L115KAK 1 

OTIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORJ5U& 
DAVIS 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 


SONG  AND   STORY. 

Z  vol.     izmo.     $1.50. 

A  collection  of  Mr.  Fawcett's  admirable  poems,  including 

the  dramatic  story  of  "Alan  Eliot,"  the  famous 

ode  entitled  "The  Republic,"  and  the 

lyrical  gem,  "  The  Rivers." 

ADVENTURES   OF  A  WIDOW. 

i  vol.    ismo.    $1.50. 

A  brilliant  and  fascinating  novel,   full  of  epigram  and 

.  repartee,  and  thrilling  with  the  life  of 

the  nineteenth  century. 


JAMES   R.  OSGOOD   &   CO. 
BOSTON. 


TINKLING  CYMBALS 


BY 


EDGAR    FAWCETT 

AUTHOR   OF   "  A   GENTLEMAN    OF   LEISURE,"     "  AN   AMBITIOUS 
WOMAN,"     "A    HOPELESS    CASE,"    ETC. 


BOSTON 

JAMES  R.  OSGOOD   AND  COMPANY. 
1884 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFOKflUA 
DAVIS 


Copyright,  1883  and  1884, 
BY   EDGAR    FAWCETT. 

All  Rights  Reserved. 


TINKLING  CYMBALS. 


2061851 


TINKLING   CYMBALS. 


i. 

morning,  in  the  latter  part  of  July,  a 
lady  chanced  to  emerge  from  the  hall-door 
way  of  a  boarding-house  in  Newport,  and  stand 
upon  its  broad  piazza,  looking  about  her  with  that 
air  of  unconscious  briskness  which  a  sense  of 
novel  surroundings  and  a  recent  cup  of  good  coffee 
will  usually  conspire  to  produce. 

The  name  of  this  lady  was  Mrs.  Romilly — or 
Elizabeth  Cleeve  Romilly,  as  the  world  had  long 
ago  got  into  the  habit  of  calling  her.  It  can 
not  be  said  that  this  familiar  yet  august  title 
implied  actual  fame ;  a  certain  sharp  notoriety 
had,  indeed,  at  one  time  belonged  to  it;  it  had 
rung  disagreeably  in  the  ears  of  many  men, 
twenty  years  ago,  when  for  a  woman  to  "take 
the  platform "  roused  hotter  disclaimers  than 
now,  and  any  active  feminine  participation  in 
public  reformatory  questions  would  wring  from 

7 


8  TINKLING  CYMBALS. 

some  cleanly  male  lips  that  sort  of  criticism 
which  passes  the  bounds  of  even  insolent  dis 
paragement.  Mrs.  Romilly  had  been  a  zealot, 
in  her  day,  and  a  very  hot  one.  In  not  a  few 
conventional  households  her  name  had  been  cited 
with  derision  and  contempt;  she  had  been 
pointed  to  as  a  brazen  image  of  vulgarity  and 
immodesty;  she  had  been  drawn  by  roguish  cari 
caturists  in  a  hundred  varieties  of  amazonian 
costume ;  her  convictions  had  been  denounced 
as  braggadocio ;  her  headstrong  courage  had  been 
declared  cheap  ostentation  ;  her  resolute  teachings 
had  been  termed  antic  immorality.  Journalism 
had  written  of  her  in  acrid  ink  and  with  a  barbed 
pen.  Once,  at  the  end  of  a  lecture  in  a  distant 
Western  town,  she  had  narrowly  escaped  personal 
assault  from  two  or  three  virtue-maddened 
matrons.  The  final  result  of  it  all  had  been  dis- 
heartenment,  though  never  intimidation.  Slowly, 
and  with  that  grudging  surrender  of  vantage 
which  is  given  only  by  intrepid  self-believers, 
she  withdrew  from  the  contest.  Her  indomitable 
spirit  remained  unbroken.  It  was  no  loss  of  nerve 
that  had  made  her  retreat.  It  was  rather  a  sense 
of  the  mighty  inequality  between  her  own  deter 
mination,  however  flinchless,  and  the  task  she  had 
so  self-reliantly  attempted.  In  the  morning  of 


TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

life,  with  the  blood  at  swift  flow  through  her 
veins,  with  a  warm  philanthropy  forever  cheering 
her  like  some  magic  elixir,  it  had  not  been  hard  to 
think  that  a  right  of  conquest  was  the  sure  talis 
man  of  victory.  But  now  her  physical  forces, 
though  still  fine,  had  lost  the  first  electric  fresh 
ness  of  their  vitality.  Her  capable  intellect  had 
grown  cooler ;  she  perceived  that  the  world  has 
its  own  way  of  destroying  its  own  wrongs,  and 
that  a  very  ardent  protomartyr  has  often  been 
well  at  the  rear  of  a  great  beneficial  movement. 
The  successful  iconoclast  is  rarely  in  advance  of 
his  time.  It  is  the  supporters  flocking  round  a 
standard  who  best  make  a  rebel  battle-cry  scare 
the  oppressor. 

This  large-hearted  and  noble-minded  woman  re 
tired  into  private  life  with  a  silent  acknowledg 
ment  that  she  had  striven  to  pluck  unripe  fruit,  to 
reap  an  immature  harvest.  But  her  retirement 
involved,  after  all,  no  momentous  effort.  Some  of 
the  dire  foes  who  had  denied  her  a  single  womanly 
grace  would  have  been  amazed  to  see  her  fondling 
fingers  twine  themselves  in  the  curls  of  her  little 
daughter,  then  but  a  year  or  two  old,  or  witness 
the  devoted  vigils  that  duty  now  called  upon  her 
new  leisure  to  hold  at  the  bedside  of  a  young  hus 
band,  seized  in  full  health  with  an  acute  consump- 


10  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

tion  of  terrible  brevity.  The  truth  was,  she  had 
always  possessed  a  nature  of  the  sweetest  domestic 
sympathies.  She  had  been  a  New  England  girl, 
the  child  of  a  college  professor,  from  whom  she 
had  inherited  her  remarkable  brain  and  her  large, 
scholarly  aptitude.  At  three  and  twenty,  an  ex 
tremely  amiable  and  charming  young  man,  then 
about  to  be  graduated  from  the  neighboring  col 
lege,  asked  her  to  marry  him,  and  Elizabeth  gave 
her  answer  with  slight  hesitation.  Frank  Romilly 
was  her  opposite  in  nearly  everything,  but  he  had 
won  her  heart,  and  still  held  it  so  securely  when 
his  untimely  death  occurred,  seven  years  after 
their  marriage,  that  the  loss  dealt  her  an  irrepara 
ble  blow.  He  had  been  buoyant,  superficial, 
genial,  and  perhaps  not  a  little  faulty.  But 
Elizabeth,  with  her  gravity,  her  reflectiveness,  her 
Greek,  and  her  budding  "theories,"  had  found  in 
him  delightful  relaxation  and  abiding  charms  of 
companionship.  Romilly  had  inherited  a  comfort 
able  fortune,  which  luckily  permitted  him  to  am 
buscade  his  native  indolence  behind  the  pretense 
of  administering  law.  In  a  social  sense  he  had 
suffered  from  what  public  opinion  held  as  his 
wife's  atrocious  foibles.  But  he  had  been  per 
fectly  willing  to  suffer.  He  had  never  moved  in 
any  superfine  circle  of  nabobs  and  notabilities ; 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  11 

neither  birth  nor  inclination  had  drifted  him 
thither.  Hence  the  ostracism  resultant  from  his 
wife's  alleged  misdeeds  did  not  saddle  him  with  a 
very  cumbrous  burden.  He  bore  it  quite  grace 
fully  and  lightsomely,  as  he  bore  nearly  every 
thing.  He  thought  Elizabeth  superb,  and  believed 
that  she  was  going  to  shake  society  to  its  founda 
tions.  He  intended  to  be  present  at  the  shaking. 
He  did  not  precisely  understand  what  all  her 
glorious  tumult  was  about,  but  he  would  make  the 
most  vehement  defence  of  its  grand  motives. 
Now  and  then  he  defended  it  with  something 
more  than  flighty  verbiage ;  he  became  sternly, 
even  chivalrously  angry.  He  was  a  man  of  mus 
cular  prowess  and  excellent  pluck ;  this  fact 
transpired,  as  such  facts  have  a  trick  of  doing 
where  a  capable  biceps  coexists  with  much  quiet 
courage.  But  he  was  very  rarely  called  upon 
to  championize  his  wife.  People  treated  him 
coolly,  or  furtively  cut  him,  instead.  Then  had 
come  his  pitiable  and  premature  death,  happen 
ing  just  at  the  time  when  his  beloved  Elizabeth 
had  folded  her  far-soaring  pinions  and  concluded 
that,  after  all,  there  were  heights  too  dizzy  and 
precarious  for  even  their  dauntless  aspirations. 

Many  years  had  passed  since  then.     Mrs.  Rom- 
illy's  widowhood  had  been  a  term  of  repose  from 


12  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

all  disputatious  or  polemic  courses.  But  she 
looked  back  upon  her  hostile  past  with  slight 
repentant  feeling.  She  had  made  not  a  few  sin 
cere  and  lasting  friends  during  her  strenuous  cru 
sade.  These  had  recognized  her,  had  given  her 
their  hand-clasps,  had  smiled  disdain  at  the  slanders 
assailing  her.  She  continued  to  enjoy  their  friend 
ship,  though  more  through  the  medium  of  corre 
spondence  than  personal  intercourse,  since  they 
dwelt,  for  the  most  part,  in  remote  towns  and 
cities. 

Meanwhile  she  had  seen  important  changes  in 
the  development  of  society,  and  noted  them  with 
vigilant,  deliberative  eyes.  As  her  mental  vision 
swept  back  through  a  decade  and  more,  it  dis 
cerned,  in  one  comprehensive  coup  d'ceil^  the  mag 
nificent  energetic  push  of  radical  thought,  and 
realized  the  steadfast  though  tardy  way  in  which 
her  century  was  justifying  the  audacities  of  her 
youth.  A  few  former  tenets  now  wore  for  her 
calmed  spirit  lamentable  rawness;  she  both  re 
gretted  and  abjured  them.  But  in  the  main  she 
was  exempt  from  remorseful  visitations.  She  had 
been  fiery  and  defiant,  yet  always  true  to  a  lofty 
ideal.  Her  mistakes  had  been  those  of  sincerity 
alone.  The  world  now  not  only  admitted  this, 
but  clad  its  admission  in  distinctly  handsome 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  13 

terms.  Ridicule,  disrespect,  calumny,  no  longer 
shot  at  her  a  single  shaft.  She  had  outlived  all 
that ;  a  new  generation  was  supplanting  the  old ; 
tolerance  and  liberality  had  begun  to  set  her  deeds 
in  their  proper  light  before  men.  Massive  preju 
dice  still  existed ;  she  saw  it  in  its  full,  burly  bulk, 
and  deplored  it  with  a  gentle,  dignified  sorrow. 
At  the  same  time  she  felt  that  the  air  of  the  age 
had  cleared  wonderfully,  so  to  speak ;  in  religion, 
in  morality,  in  charitable  administration,  there 
seemed  to  her  a  precious  and  thrifty  enlighten 
ment.  Her  imperishable  optimism  rejoiced  and 
exulted.  The  recent  ethical  writers  won  her  cord 
ial  and  prompt  recognition.  She  regarded  them 
with  something  of  the  enthusiasm  which  an  astron 
omer  may  feel  when  his  glass  has  set  its  search 
ing  disk  upon  a  new  star. 

If  she  had  been  gifted  with  the  art  of  expressing 
her  thoughts  through  the  pen,  these  more  tranquil 
years  would  have  wedded  their  peace  to  a  sturdy  lit 
erary  diligence.  But  her  books  remained  always  un 
written  ;  their  pages  and  binding  were  of  the  im 
material  sort,  and  were  the  melody  of  her  earnest 
voice,  the  enchanting  candor  of  her  gaze.  A  few 
trusted  friends  had  felt  the  eloquence  of  both. 
They  sat  devoutly  at  her  feet,  and  spoke  of  her  as 
the  rapt  disciple  speaks  of  his  revered  master. 


14  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

Since  her  husband's  death  she  had  lived  in  seclu 
sion  and  privacy,  not  shunning  her  fellows,  yet 
rarely  seeking  them.  Her  daughter,  Leah,  had 
grown  up  under  her  devoted  tutelage.  This  young 
girl,  now  in  her  eighteenth  year,  had  never  known 
any  teacher  save  her  mother.  They  had  come  to 
Newport,  this  summer,  chiefly  because  Mrs.  Rom- 
illy's  habits  of  study  and  mental  application  had 
induced  a  distressing  sleeplessness  which  threat 
ened  to  grow  chronic.  Her  general  health  contin 
ued  good ;  it  was  only  that  her  taxed  nerves  had 
sounded  a  first  note  of  alarm,  which  she  was  sensi 
ble  enough  to  heed  and  obey. 

She  looked  a  very  lovely  and  stately  lady  as  she 
stood,  now,  upon  the  sunlit  piazza,  where  an  arch 
of  twinkling  and  restless  vine-leaves,  just  over  her 
head,  put  all  its  emerald  vivacity  in  pleasant  con 
trast  with  her  serene  repose  of  posture  and  visage. 
In  earlier  days  she  had  been  beautiful,  and  now 
that  her  rippled  hair  had  become  a  frosty  gray  and 
her  straight-chiselled,  classic  face  had  replaced  its 
young  bloom  by  a  \varm-tinted,  healthful  paleness, 
she  was  undoubtedly  beautiful  still.  Her  eyes,  of 
a  rich,  translucent  hazel,  had  dimmed  their  natu 
ral  brightness  with  persistent  reading,  but  in  the 
smile  that  so  often  sought  her  fresh,  firm  lips  you 
seemed  to  see  the  lost  light  of  the  eyes  reproduced, 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  15 

as  though  some  kind  of  tender  theft  retained  it 
there. 

She  had  been  counselled  by  her  physician,  a  few 
days  ago,  to  renounce  all  but  the  lightest  books 
during  her  Newport  sojourn ;  yet  already  this  en 
forced  abstinence  had  begun  to  grow  irksome. 
They  had  arrived  at  the  famed  watering-place  yes 
terday,  to  find  it  in  a  blur  of  whitish  fog;  but  this 
morning  some  delicious  besom  of  sunshine  had 
brushed  all  damp  vapors  away  from  sky  and  earth. 
Such  enlivenment  was  very  gladdening  to  Mrs. 
Romilly ;  the  change  of  air  had  already  told  upon 
her ;  she  had  passed  a  night  of  refreshing  sleep, 
and  now  the  windy  brilliance  of  nature  promised 
her  an  exhilaration  that  must  go  far  toward  mak 
ing  her  bear  resignedly  the  new  yoke  of  intellect 
ual  idleness. 

"  This  is  a  mighty  improvement,"  soon  said  a 
clear  voice  in  the  doorway.  At  once  the  lady 
turned,  meeting  her  daughter,  Leah,  and  they  pres 
ently  fell  into  a  little  walk  up  and  down  the  piazza, 
with  interlinked  arms,  as  two  women  on  terms  of. 
close  intimacy  will  so  often  do  when  they  have 
lighted  among  people  to  whom  both  are  strangers. 
But  as  yet  the  piazza  remained  vacant  of  all  other 
boarders  save  themselves. 

"  The  fogs  here  are  almost  historical,  my  dear," 


1G  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

said  Mrs.  Romilly,  while  she  and  Leah  thus  walked. 
u  Or,  in  any  case,  they  are  full  of  the  dignity  of 
tradition.  It  will  never  do  to  treat  them  disre 
spectfully  in  the  hearing  of  old  residents,  you 
know." 

Leah  laughed.  She  had  a  way  of  laughing 
without  the  least  hint  of  a  smile.  She  was  so  un 
like  her  mother  in  appearance  that  their  kinship 
had  struck  some  observers  as  incredible.  To  the 
mother  Leah  was  wondrously  like  her  dead  hus 
band.  The  resemblance  was  at  times  so  appealing 
that  it  roused  in  her  a  pensive  amusement.  Leah 
had  a  tall,  supple  figure,  which  she  liked  to  clothe 
in  garments  of  modish  taste  ;  she  had  revolution 
ized  her  mother's  costumes  three  or  four  jrears 
ago,  and  superintended  all  purchases  of  Mrs.  Rom- 
illy's  apparel  with  a  dainty  tyranny  to  which  the 
elder  lady  yielded  in  kindly  despair.  She  would 
insist  that  Leah  made  her  quite  too  smart ;  but 
these  gentle  protests  were  treated  with  an  amiable 
disdain.  It  cannot  be  said  that  Leah  Romilly 
passed  for  amiable  with  her  few  friends ;  she  had 
by  no  means  her  father's  nature.  Girls  of  her  own 
age  were  a  little  repelled  by  her ;  she  struck  them 
as  indifferent  and  imperious  ;  she  appeared  always 
to  be  regarding  them  from  a  height,  a  distance.  If 
they  did  not  dislike  her,  they  seldom  told  her  their 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  17 

secrets  or  treated  her  with  unreserved  freedom. 
They  thought  her  unsympathetic,  but  they  admired 
her  notwithstanding  —  and  perhaps  with  covert 
belief,  in  some  cases,  that  she  withheld  her  sympa 
thy  because  of  a  very  solid  self-esteem.  This  air 
of  superiority  did  not  seem  out  of  place  in  Leah. 
It  even  became  her,  as  its  cool  tint  becomes  the 
lily,  or  its  multiplex  depth  the  rose.  She  was  rare 
and  elegant ;  this  went  without  saying.  You  might 
as  well  have  denied  its  symmetry  to  a  swan  as  rar 
ity  to  so  high-bred  a  creature,  with  her  light-step 
ping  grace  of  carriage,  her  small,  shapely  head 
overfolded  in  shining  breadths  of  blond  hair,  her 
delicate-featured  face  of  cameo-like  profile,  her 
nut-brown  eyes  of  golden  lashes,  her  slender  throat, 
full  of  flexible  curves. 

She  had  met  very  few  men,  either  young  or  old. 
With  the  former  she  was  usually  grand  to  a  degree 
of  actual  impertinence,  and  apt  to  comment  upon 
them  afterward  with  a  bitter  wit  whose  scorn  pained 
her  mother.  Mrs.  Romilly  could  never  understand 
where  Leah  had  got  her  turn  for  satire.  She  had 
been  quick,  though  indolent,  in  all  educational 
matters  ;  she  mastered  knowledge  easily,  but  with 
none  of  the  scholar's  treasuring  and  retentive  en 
joyment.  In  truth,  her  mother,  who  knew  her 
best,  had  never  been  sure  of  anything  that  she  es- 


18  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

pecially  enjoyed  or  loved,  though  sure  of  many 
things  that  she  held  in  fatigued  disrelish,  and  many 
more  that  she  viewed  with  an  impatient  irony. 
She  had  never  been  able  to  place  her  fond  mater 
nal  hand  on  just  the  spot  where  Leah's  heart  lay ; 
she  had  never  felt  it  beat ;  sometimes  she  would 
almost  doubt  if  it  beat  at  all.  There  seemed  a  vir 
ginal  superciliousness  about  the  girl  that  would 
have  shocked  and  repulsed  had  it  not  been  for  her 
strong  personal  charms  ;  she  had  no  sooner  made 
you  disapprove  of  her  than  you  somehow  found 
yourself  pardoning.  It  was  pride  and  coldness, 
no  doubt,  but  the  pride  and  coldness  of  a  young 
Diana,  white,  swift,  dazzling  —  and  before  the  ad 
vent  of  Endymion. 

"  I  shall  be  quite  willing  to  respect  the  fogs  if 
they  will  only  keep  at  a  safe  distance,"  said  Leah, 
after  the  delivery  of  her  characteristic  smileless 
laugh.  "  I  am  afraid  that  Mrs.  Preen's  establish 
ment  contains  enough  excuse  of  another  sort  for 
downright  depression." 

"I  suppose  you  mean  the  people,  Leah,"  an 
swered  Mrs.  Romilly,  with  a  soft  shake  of  her  head. 
"  It  is  so  like  you  to  mean  and  say  hard  things 
about  our  fellow-boarders  as  soon  as  you  have  seen 
them." 

"But  I  have  also  heard  them,"  returned  Leah, 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  19 

lightly,  "and  so  have  you.  What  big  draughts 
upon  our  interest  and  compassion  those  two  spin 
ster  sisters  are  going  to  draw  !  —  is  n't  their  name 
Semmes  ?  They  are  so  exactly  alike  that  I  shall 
always  be  in  ignorance  which  one  has  the  weak  chest 
and  which  the  neuralgia.  Of  course,  when  they 
are  met  in  concert,  as  it  were,  we  can  always  know, 
for  they  appear  to  do  nothing  except  to  pity  the 
lungs  of  one  and  the  head  of  the  other." 

"  Leah,  they  are  very  sweet  old  ladies,  I  think," 
murmured  her  mother,  with  placid  reproach. 

"  Then  the  dressy  woman  with  the  dog,"  con 
tinued  Leah.  "  Can't  you  hear  it  now  ?  "  she  went 
on,  as  a  sharp,  thin  bark  resounded  from  inner  re 
gions.  "  It  is  so  pleasant  to  see  that  miniature 
animal  perch  itself  on  Mrs.  Dickerson's  lap  and 
make  hungry  darts  at  her  fork ;  you  feel  a  nice 
exciting  doubt  as  to  whether  it  may  not  leap  on 
your  own  plate  the  next  minute." 

"  She  is  a  very  social  person.  I  should  really 
like  to  know  her  better." 

"  I  am  afraid  that  little  terrier  wouldn't  let  you; 
I  suspect  that  it  keeps  watch  on  the  threshold  of 
her  affections.  But,  oh,  what  is  the  name  of  the 
long,  ghostly  man,  with  white  eyebrows  and  a 
lemon-colored  moustache  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,  Leah." 


20  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"  We  shall  soon  discover.  He  has  talked  of 
nothing  but  drainage  and  pipes  and  sewer-gas 
since  we  arrived.  Did  you  notice  ?  He  is  a  ma- 
lario-maniac  !  Is  that  good  etymology  ?  Well, 
you  need  n't  tell  me,  if  it  is  n't.  He 's  so  amusing. 
I  am  sure  he  thinks  that  the  chances  of  poisoning 
himself  are  nine  out  of  ten  every  time  he  takes  a 
swallow  of  water.  He  appears  to  be  on  very 
friendly  terms  with  Dr.  Pragley,  the  eminent  di 
vine  from  Brooklyn.  Do  you  observe,  by  the  way, 
mother,  what  a  clerical  glare  the  divine  gives  you 
every  now  and  then  from  the  corners  of  his  black 
eyes?  It  ought  to  be  quite  easy  for  anybody  to 
become  eminent,  I  should  say,  with  that  stupen 
dous  nose.  It 's  a  sort  of  triumphal  arch.  I  sup 
pose  the  great  sentences  roll  out  under  it,  when  he 
preaches,  like  a  band  of  victorious  soldiers." 

"  Leah  !  "  reproved  her  mother,  in  almost  a  flur 
ried  whisper,  "  you  must  be  more  guarded !  This 
is  precisely  the  mood  you  indulged  while  we  were 
abroad,  two  summers  ago  !  " 

Leah  looked  askance  at  the  doorway,  which 
they  had  just  passed.  "  Oh,  I  dare  say  it  is  writ 
ten,"  she  answered,  "  that  I  am  to  set  everybody 
in  Mrs.  Preen's  boarding-house  by  the  ears.  You 
meet  such  ridiculous  people  in  boarding-houses. 
All  the  normal  part  of  creation  in  Newport,  they 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  21 

say,  occupies  the  cottages.  I  really  begin  to 
think  you  were  imprudent  to  bring  me  here.  I 
foresee  the  dawn  of  my  own  dreadful  unpop 
ularity." 

Mrs.  Romilly  sighed.  She  was  never  so  com 
plaisant,  never  so  slightly  individual,  as  with  her 
daughter.  Women  of  one-third  her  parts  had 
made  better  mothers,  after  all.  It  was  now  a 
good  while  ago  since  she  had  accepted  Leah's 
flaws  as  irremediable ;  the  girl,  just  as  she  stood, 
was  Mrs.  Romilly's  single  instance  of  loving  a  fel 
low-creature  without  an  effort  toward  the  removal 
of  manifest  faults. 

"You  court  unpopularity,"  she  said,  with  a 
matter-of-course  regret.  "  You  take  a  morbid 
enjoyment  in  it." 

"Oh,  no;  I  see  the  nonsense  in  people  —  and 
sometimes  worse  than  that.  For  example,  this 
Dr.  Pragley :  I  don't  doubt  that  he  would  like  to 
shriek  pietisms  at  you.  You  remember  his  tirades, 
full  of  bigotry  and  brimstone  ?  Which  newspaper 
is  it  that  always  bristles  with  them  on  Monday 
mornings  ?  " 

"I  have  an  idea  that  he  is  a  sincere  enough 
man  in  his  special  way,"  said  Mrs.  Romilly,  with 
that  quiefc  promptitude  of  response  which  showed 
her  large-souled  disinterestedness.  "  If  he  is  nar- 


22  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

row,  he  is  at  least  earnest.  We  too  often  mistake 
narrowness  for  hypocrisy,  and  I  must  remember 
that  my  liberalism  would  be  a  hollow  vaunt  if  it 
could  not  find  in  the  former  all  struggling  or 
thwarted  growths  of  goodness." 

"  Oh,  I  am  not  treating  him  from  that  point  of 
view,"  said  Leah,  as  if  all  such  high,  wise  charities 
were  a  thrice-told  tale.  She  did  not  speak  with 
any  flippant  intonation  ;  she  appeared  simply  to 
disregard  her  mother's  philosophy,  not  to  condemn 
it.  She  had  the  air  of  inferring  that  it  was  too 
serious  a  subject  for  the  gay,  auroral  buoyancy  of 
the  hour.  "  I  merely  meant,"  she  finished,  tossing 
her  head  with  a  light  languor,  "  that  Dr.  Pragley 
and  all  the  rest  of  them  are  in  horrible  taste." 

"  You  care  too  much  for  what  is  in  good  or  bad 
taste,  Leah,"  said  her  mother.  "You  persist  in 
looking  at  people's  surfaces.  This  trait  grows 
with  you." 

Leah  patted  her  mother's  hand.  Any  playful 
caress  was  unusual  with  her,  and  when  given  it 
always  had  an  effect  of  severe  condescension, 
never  of  even  momentary  surrender  to  sentiment. 
She  had  no  prettiness  of  mannerism,  no  winsome 
arts.  If  her  beauty  had  not  been  so  willowy,  so 
pliant,  so  exquisitely  feminine,  it  would  less  often 
have  escaped  the  charge  of  ungracious  hardness. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  23 

"  I  '11  not  deny  that  you  are  perfectly  right,"  she 
said.  "  The  older  I  grow,  the  more  I  feel  like  re 
belling  against  what  displeases  my  sense  of  outward 
fitness.  And  I  have  begun  to  see  that  there  are  a 
good  many  people  in  the  world,  after  all,  who 
please  me  completely  as  regards  form,  style,  de 
portment,  poKsh,  nicety.  They  don't  give  my 
sense  of  humor  the  least  chance  at  them ;  they 
suit  me ;  they  even  win  from  me  a  positive  def 
erence.  I  should  be  glad  to  know  more  of  them. 
We  met  a  few  in  our  European  travels :  we  have 
fallen  in  with  a  few  since  then.  Shall  I  give  you 
their  names?  .  .  .  Well,  perhaps  I  had  best  not. 
You  would  recall  that  most  of  them  are  mentally 
dull.  But  they  were  not  at  all  dull  to  me.  They 
were  frivolous,  if  you  please,  but  I  liked  their 
frivolity ;  it  was  so  attractively  expressed.  I 
sometimes  think  that  I  was  made  to  live  among 
them  —  to  be  one  of  them.  You  know  how  qui 
etly  I  have  lived  thus  far.  It  seems  to  me  that 
there  is  some  experience  which  I  was  meant  for, 
yet  have  never  enjoyed.  I  feel  a  want,  a  need, 
and  I  should  not  be  a  bit  surprised  if  it  could  be 
gratified  by  precisely  the  same  kind  of  society 
that  you  would  consider  unpardonably  light.  I 
believe  that  I  like  light  people,  aimless  people, 
people  who  are  not  serious,  who  don't  take  things 


24  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

in  earnest — provided  they  are  always  well-dressed, 
well-mannered,  conventional.  Perhaps  it's  all  a 
natural  breaking  away  from  early  influences ;  per 
haps  it 's  some  inheritance  I  got  from  Papa.  You 
are  superfine.  I  admire  you,  and  shall  always 
admire  you ;  but  you  are  not  conventional ;  you 
would  be  dressing  in  gowns  of  ten  years  ago  if  I 
hadn't  insisted  otherwise.  You're  wonderfully 
clever ;  you  have  great  thoughts,  great  views.  If 
you  were  not  my  mother  —  if  I  were  not  ever  so 
fond  of  you  —  if  we  hadn't  lived  together  so 
long,  and  all  that,  why,  I  fancy  that  I  should  treat 
you  like  a  book  that  is  too  deep  for  me,  but  at  the 
same  time  kept  in  bold  relief  on  the  shelf,  as  a 
possession  to  be  proud  of.  I  should  n't  open  you ; 
you  would  be  heavy  reading ;  I  'd  thumb  over  the 
silliest  novels  instead.  .  .  .  Now,  there  is  no  use 
of  looking  melancholy ;  you  've  heard  me  talk  in 
this  strain  a  number  of  times  before.  It  all  comes 
to  one  result :  you  are  great,  and  I  'm  small.  Of 
course,  I  am.  /never  doubted  it.  You  have 
sympathies  with  the  race,  secure  and  thorough 
learning,  a  mighty  talent  for  argument,  a  huge 
brain,  and  a  still  huger  heart.  Jam  simply  a  girl, 
made  after  a  very  ordinary  pattern.  You  are  uni 
versal,  abstract;  I'm  particular,  concrete.  Mind 
you,  I  don't  exult  in  my  littleness;  I  merely 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  25 

record  it.  You  could  find  a  justification  for  the 
existence  of  that  inflammatory  Dr.  Pragley.  I 
claim  your  benevolence  and  toleration  on  consid 
erably  firmer  grounds.  Put  me  in  your  cabinet 
of  psychology,  once  and  for  all.  Not  as  a  rare 
specimen,  but  one  rather  perfect  of  its  kind. 
There  's  no  use  of  fancying  that  you  have  made 
any  error  about  the  color  or  cut  of  my  wings ; 
you  have  n't  at  all ;  they  belong  definitely  to  the 
butterfly  species." 

"They  have  been  getting  stronger  of  late,  I 
imagine,"  was  the  slow,  reflective  answer,  "  and 
you  have  a  greater  desire  to  use  them." 

"In  the  sunshine  —  yes,"  said  Leah,  with  one 
of  her  laughs.  "  Perhaps  in  the  Newport  sun 
shine,  too.  You  know  Lawrence  Rainsford  prom 
ised  to  make  it  pleasant  for  me  when  we  came." 

Mrs.  Romilly  looked  at  her  daughter  with  a 
more  solicitous  gaze  than  she  herself  knew  of. 

"You  have  never  made  it  very  pleasant  for 
Lawrence  Rainsford,"  she  answered,  in  lowered, 
significant  voice. 

Leah  chose  to  ignore  this  mild  .touch  of  cen 
sure. 

"  The  Rainsfords  are  old  Newport  people,"  she 
said.  "  He  's  something  of  a  celebrity,  too,  since 
he  painted  his  last  five  or  six  pictures.  He  ought 


26  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

to  be  well  received,  as  they  call  it.  I  wonder 
what  kept  him  away  all  day  yesterday." 

Mrs.  Romilly  knew  that  Leah  spoke  of  a  man 
whom  she  had  already  refused  at  least  twice  in 
marriage.  And  she  had  never  heard  the  girl 
mention  his  name  with  even  as  much  lively  con 
cern  as  now. 

"  Let  us  sit  down  here,"  Leah  rapidly  added ; 
for  the  piazza,  by  no  means  of  capacious  limits, 
had  just  received,  through  the  open  hall-doorway, 
a  little  moving  group,  and  at  that  corner  which 
Mrs.  Romilly  and  her  daughter  had  then  chanced 
to  reach,  were  two  commodious-looking  bamboo- 
chairs. 

The  group  was  composed  of  Dr.  Pragley,  the 
two  maidenly  invalided  Misses  Semmes,  the  spec 
tral  unknown  gentleman  whom  Leah  had  called  a 
malario-maniac,  and  the  dressy  Mrs.  Dickerson, 
who  held  her  inevitable  little  dog  clasped  to  her 
heart. 

But  just  then  the  dog  set  up  a  deafening  clamor 
of  shrill  barks,  and  bounded  from  its  adorer's 
arms.  It  dashed  down  the  piazza  steps,  whirling 
itself  round  on  each  in  a  very  mercurial  frenzy. 
Its  barks,  meanwhile,  grew  more  and  more  excited, 
as  its  slim  little  black-and-auburn  body  careened 
and  plunged. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  27 

Leah  and  her  mother  had  already  sat  down,  but 
through  the  vine-leaves  they  saw  that  a  gentleman 
was  ascending  the  steps,  and  perceived  that  all 
this  strident  clamor  was  evidently  roused  by  his 
advent. 

"  How  tiresome  !  "  said  Leah,  rising,  as  she  rec 
ognized  Mr.  Lawrence  Rainsford.  She  at  once 
went  forward  to  meet  him,  with  her  fair  head  a 
little  more  grandly  poised  than  usual,  and  her 
elastic  step  a  trifle  more  assertive. 


II. 

HV  /TEANWHILE,  Mrs.  Dickerson,  the  mistress 
***•*•  of  the  tempestuous  dog,  had  hurried  to  the 
edge  of  the  piazza.  She  was  a  small  person,  with  a 
narrow,  sharp-eyed  face  and  a  keenly  prominent 
chin.  Her  figure  was  no  less  bony  than  slight,  but 
it  was  clad  in  a  morning-robe  of  ample  volume  and 
liberal  embellishment.  There  seemed  to  be  con 
siderably  more  of  fluttering  ribbons  and  breezy 
furbelows  than  of  Mrs.  Dickerson.  Nevertheless, 
her  spare  body  had  a  volatile,  nervous  way  of  con 
stantly  altering  its  lines  and  poses,  that  was  not 
unlike  the  more  intense  movements  of  her  mettle 
some  pet. 

As  Leah  approached,  she  had  begun  to  address 
the  gyrating  dog  with  raised  fore-finger  and  bent 
frame,  in  tones  of  commandant  volubility. 

"Cigarette!  will  you  be  quiet?  Be  quiet  in 
stantly,  I  say !  You  naughty,  naughty  girl !  Come 
right  to  momma !  Come !  Cigarette,  momma 
will  punish  you  severely !  Stop  barking  at  the 
gentleman !  Stop  this  minute,  now  !  " 

28 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  29 

This  outburst  produced  its  restrictive  effect  upon 
Cigarette,  who  moved  snarlingly  up  the  steps  in  a 
sidelong,  reluctant  way,  and  was  soon  grabbed  by 
her  owner.  The  threatened  punishment  was  not 
then  administered,  but,  instead,  the  dog  was  per- 
'mitted  to  squirm  in  Mrs.  Dickerson's  clutch,  and 
lick  with  a  nimble  red  tongue  the  lady's  half- 
averted  face. 

Leah  had  time  to  shake  hands  with  her  visitor, 
but  time  to  do  no  more,  before  Mrs.  Dickerson 
began  again,  appealing  to  them  both : 

"I'm  so  sorry!  I  really  am!  The  poor  little 
thing  would  'nt  bite,  you  know !  I  suppose  it 's 
this  lovely  air  that  makes  her  feel  kind  of  frolic 
some.  She  would  n't  hurt  a  fly  !  " 

There  was  a  slight  pause  during  which  the 
Reverend  Mr.  Pragley,  his  cadaverous  friend,  and 
the  two  slim,  sallow  elderly  sisters,  all  diligently 
stared. 

" She  looks  small  enough  for  a  fly  to  hurt  her" 
said  Mr.  Rainsford,  dryly,  with  a  smile. 

Mrs.  Dickerson  gave  a  tittering  laugh,  and  re 
ceded  toward  the  group  which  she  had  left.  She 
at  once  addressed  Mr.  Pragley  in  a  low  voice.  It 
was  noticeable,  indeed,  that  all  the  members  of 
this  small  assemblage  turned  their  eyes  upon  Mr. 
Pragley  whenever  they  spoke.  .  .  . 


30  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"  They  all  belong  to  his  flock,"  said  Leah,  when 
Mr.  Rainsford  had  taken  a  seat  beside  her  mother 
and  herself,  at  the  farther  end  of  the  piazza,  and 
after  numerous  sentences  had  been  spoken  which 
had  ultimately  led  to  the  subject  of  Mrs.  Preen's 
establishment.  "  Yes,  Mamma  and  I  haye  found 
ourselves  in  the  midst  of  a  flock.  There  is  n't  the 
least  doubt  of  it.  And  the  shepherd  already  dis 
approves  of  us.  We  are  looked  upon  as  black 
sheep  already.  It 's  very  amusing  to  me  ;  I  enjoy 
it  greatly." 

"  Mrs.  Preen's  place  was  never  given  over  to  any 
religious  clique  before,"  said  Rainsford,  quietly. 
He  usually  spoke  with  slowness  and  gravity.  "  I 
should  n't  have  recommended  it  if  I  had  not  be 
lieved  it  quite  secular." 

"  Oh,  it  has  been  stormed,  this  summer,  by  Dr. 
Pragley,  and  his  myrmidons,"  said  Leah,  in  her 
careless  way,  and  so  often  suggested  an  under 
current  of  idle  brilliancy,  that  had  made  her 
mother  sometimes  wonder  if  a  certain  unconquer 
able  indolence  had  not  kept  her  from  a  stronger 
grasp  upon  the  great  choices  and  issues  of  life. 
"  Mamma  and  I  are  literally  nowhere.  The  Rev 
erend  Mrs.  Pragley  and  children  have  not  yet 
arrived.  I  overheard  last  evening  that  she  is  visit 
ing  her  mother  in  Vermont,  and  is  expected  here 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  31 

in  a  short  time.  When  she  arrives,  there  is  strong 
probability  of  our  enforced  departure.  I  can  see 
us  standing  indignant  out  on  the  drive,  yonder, 
beside  our  ejected  trunks." 

"  In  that  case  my  mother  will  give  you  at  least 
a  temporary  refuge,"  said  Rainsford.  "  If  you  wish 
it,  I  will  warn  her  to  have  one  or  two  apartments 
prepared." 

He  said  this  with  a  slight,  fleeting  smile.  His 
smile  was  infrequent,  but  very  richly  genial  when 
it  came.  He  was  a  man  of  generous  build,  verging 
a  little  toward  stoutness,  yet  easily  escaping  the 
charge  because  so  solid  of  frame  and  limb,  not 
withstanding  girth.  His  head  was  large,  and  set 
squarely  on  broad  shoulders.  He  was  scarcely 
past  two-and-thirty,  yet  the  hair  had  receded  far 
from  his  naturally  high  forehead,  and  had  left  a 
face  in  which  existed  not  one  regular  feature,  im 
pressed  with  a  stamp  of  rugged  nobility.  His  par 
tial  baldness,  in  other  words,  became  him,  dignified 
him,  brought  his  manful  sort  of  homeliness  into 
strong  relief.  But  you  felt  that  it  had  always 
been  a  kindly  face  —  the  fleshly  witness,  somehow, 
of  a  power  for  good  in  the  world.  His  cordial  blue 
eyes  told  you  that,  and  the  total  reverse  of  grim- 
ness  about  his  close-shorn  lips.  In  dress  and 
manner  he  had  the  look  of  one  who  reluctantly 


S2  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

concedes  to  the  rules  of  the  reigning  mode,  with 
out  in  any  rebellious  way  abjuring  them. 

"You  had  best  defer  your  preparations  until 
some  new  developments  occur,"  now  said  Mrs. 
Romilly.  She  glanced  almost  laughingly  at  Rains- 
ford  as  she  spoke.  She  had  liked  him  thoroughly 
ever  since  Leah  and  herself  had  met  him  two  years 
ago,  on  the  steamer  returning  from  Europe.  She 
had  sympathized  with  his  aims  in  Art,  had  listened 
congenially  to  the  account  of  his  previous  studies 
abroad,  had  believed  completely  in  his  soundness 
of  principle,  his  accuracy  of  ideal,  his  whole  virile 
and  temperate  personality.  She  admitted  with 
Leah  that  he  was  rugged  no  less  in  feature  than  in 
general  demeanor.  But  if  he  shifted  his  person 
without  grace,  if  his  hands  and  feet  lacked  the 
best  nicety  of  contour,  if  his  conversation  was 
without  decorative  skill  in  phrase  —  he  was,  none 
the  less,  to  her  wide  and  yet  piercing  judg 
ment,  a  man  endowed  with  powerful  and  sterling 
traits. 

"  He  has  the  soul  of  a  true  poet,"  she  had  once 
said  to  Leah,  "  hidden  away  in  that  somewhat  awk 
ward  shape.  It  is  like  a  hamadryad  imprisoned  in 
a  rough  tree-trunk.  The  woman  whom  he  loves 
and  marries  will  never  regret  her  vows." 

He  had  loved  Leah,  as  it  has  been  recorded,  and 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  S3 

had  wanted  to  marry  her.  He  came  of  a  family 
well-known  in  Newport  and  permanently -resident 
there.  His  painting  had  kept  him  in  New  York 
through  the  greater  portion  of  the  two  years  fol 
lowing  his  return  from  Europe.  His  aged  mother 
and  a  spinster  aunt  dwelt  not  far  away  from  this 
same  sun-flecked  piazza  on  which  he  now  sat  with 
Mrs.  Romilly  and  Leah.  They  three  were  all  that 
were  left  of  a  once  large  household,  in  which 
death,  for  more  than  ten  years,  had  been  making 
sad  havoc.  The  personal  fortune  of  Lawrence 
Rainsford  well  met  his  moderate  wants;  more 
would  come  to  him  when  the  two  faded  ladies 
passed  away ;  he  was  by  no  means  a  contemptible 
match,  in  worldly  esteem,  though  by  no  means 
ranking  with  the  matrimonial  potentates. 

"  You  have  seen  nothing  of  Newport,"  he  soon 
said.  "I  left  you  yesterday  for  the  toils  of  un 
packing.  But  to-day  I  want  to  claim  you  as 
strangers  full  of  tempting  local  ignorance.  I  hope 
you  will  let  me  do  so,  for  a  little  while,  at  least." 

Not  very  long  after  this  all  three  left  the  piazza 
and  strolled  toward  the  opposite  gate.  The  group 
w^ere  now  all  seated,  and  its  calm  quintuple  stare 
followed  the  two  ladies  and  their  escort  with  a  ju 
dicial  severity.  Leah  had  got  her  own  and  her 
mother's  sun-hats;  her  own  was  of  white  straw, 


34  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

very  brightly  wreathed  with  flowers.  She  moved 
along,  in  her  becoming  and  fashionable  morning 
dress,  with  a  most  distinguished  mien.  Beside 
the  graver  figure  of  Mrs.  Romilly,  hers  looked 
delightfully  young  and  active. 

But  some  of  the  comments  which  followed  her 
self  and  mother  might  have  made  the  girl  knit  her 
white  brows. 

"  My !  "  said  the  Miss  Semmes  with  the  trouble 
some  chest,  alluding  to  Leah,  "how  that  young 
thing  carries  herself !  A  person  would  n't  think 
there  was  anything  in  this  world  to  humble  the 
spirit  of  the  proud,  if  she  was  the  only  one  to  be 
judged  from !  " 

This  Miss  Semmes  was  the  precise  counterpart  of 
her  neuralgiac  sister.  They  were  not  twins,  yet 
they  were  both  so  slim,  so  frail,  so  flaxen-haired,  so 
low  of  voice,  that  they  belonged  to  that  feminine 
type  which  time  neither  wrinkles  nor  turns  gray. 
Cockle-shells  of  humanity,  in  a  physical  sense,  they 
float  on  its  waves  without  feeling  their  slow  ero 
sion.  Five  years  or  more  might  have  intervened 
between  the  ages  of  the  sisters,  and  yet  no  positive 
evidence  of  this  difference  had  set  itself  on  either 
countenance. 

"  Very  right  —  very  right  indeed  !  "  answered 
Dr.  Pragley,  to  whom  the  last  remark  had  ad- 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  35 

dressed  itself.  He  cleared  his  throat  as  he  spoke. 
He  undoubtedly  possessed  a  nose  whose  massive 
curvature  Leah  had  not  at  all  exaggerated.  He 
was  at  least  six  feet  in  height,  and,  as  the  phrase 
has  it,  he  sat  tall.  His  eyes  were  black  and  lumi 
nous  ;  he  had  a  trick  of  rolling  them  about,  and  in 
so  doing  he  gave  strong  effect  to  their  surrounding 
white.  He  was  by  no  means  an  ill-looking  per 
son  ;  a  dense  black  side-whisker,  of  coarse  texture, 
bushed  itself  along  either  cheek,  ending  in  a 
little  hirsute  line  at  the  corners  of  his  mouth; 
but  his  upper  lip,  long,  and  having  a  crease 
in  its  centre,  like  the  deep  fold  in  some  stiff 
fabric,  was  bluish  because  so  closely  shaven. 
The  mouth  itself  was  large  and  its  smile  ready. 
Its  smile  was,  indeed,  too  ready.  The  even 
but  almost  bulky  teeth  which  this  disclosed, 
while  mingled  with  some  peculiar  writhe  of  the 
back-drawn  lips,  gave  an  element  of  pain  and 
acidity  to  its  whole  expression.  He  wore  the  ac 
cepted  ministerial  garb  of  a  many-buttoned,  high- 
throated  coat  and  a  white  neckcloth.  He  had  a 
habit  of  slightly  waving  one  or  both  hands  after 
the  delivery  of  the  most  quiet  conversational  sen 
tence.  And,  in  truth,  all  that  he  said  seemed  to 
be  delivered;  nothing  had  the  manner  of  being 
spoken.  It  was  noteworty  that  in  the  least  oral 


36  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

requirement  this  gentleman  was  infallibly  ora 
torical. 

"  The  young  lady,"  he  continued,  "  is  a  true 
daughter  of  the  Philistines."  Here  Dr.  Pragley 
smiled  his  curiously  distressed  smile.  "  But  how 
should  we  expect  it  to  be  otherwise  ?  She  has 
been  reared  by  a  mother  whose  ungodly  teachings 
I  well  remember  in  my  boyhood  I  had  hoped  — 
I  had  fondly  hoped,  I  may  say  —  that  the  dark 
beliefs  of  Elizabeth  Cleeve  Romilly  might  have 
undergone  a  blessed  alteration  since  then.  But 
I  fear  I  have  counted  too  trustfully.  Yesterday 
the  lady,  seemingly  by  accident,  left  a  book  upon 
this  very  piazza  Animated  by  no  worldly  feeling 
of  curiosity  "  (here  Dr.  Pragley  took  in  the  aspect 
of  every  attentive  listener  with  one  flashing  sweep 
of  his  eyes),  "  I  looked  at  the  title  of  this  work. 
It  was  that  of  an  Atheist !  " 

"  An  Atheist ! "  immediately  repeated  four 
shocked  voices. 

"  Yes.  It  was  a  work  by  Herbert  Spencer,  that 
immoral  foe  of  all  pious  and  sacred  aspiration." 
Here  Dr.  Pragley  ceased  to  smile ;  he  frowned 
instead,  and  his  copious  black  eyebrows  gave  to 
his  frown  a  magisterial  gloom.  "  Oh,  when  I  saw 
that  unholy  book,"  he  continued,  "I  felt  that 
Elizabeth  Cleeve  Romilly  was  still  lost!"- 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  37 

So  resonant  were  these  final  words  that  they 
produced  an  irreverent  excitement  in  Cigarette, 
whose  fresh  clatter  Mrs.  Dickerson  endeavored  to 
restrain,  while  saying  fervently  to  Dr.  Pragley : 

"  She  cannot  be  lost  as  long  as  she  still  lives ! 
Let  us  all  try  and  reclaim  her !  " 

The  Miss  Semmes  who  suffered  from  neuralgia 
here  eagerly  broke  in :  "  Yes ;  let  us  try  and  re 
claim  her  !  "  But  the  next  moment  she  put  one 
narrow,  pale  hand  to  her  temple  and  faintly 
sighed. 

"  My  dear  Mary  !  "  at  once  murmured  her  sister. 
"  I  knew  you  could  n't  stand  this  draught.  Rec 
ollect  we  're  sitting  right  in  a  current  of  air ! " 
And  as  she  finished  her  admonition,  the  speaker 
gave  a  sudden,  rasping  cough. 

Immediately  Miss  Mary  Semmes  caught  the 
fragile  arm  of  her  sister.  "  Catherine  !  "  she  said, 
solicitously,  "  you  think  of  me,  and  yet  you  know 
that  the  draught  hurts  your  chest  a  great  deal  more 
than  it  does  my  head  !  " 

Both  sisters  now  arose,  apparently  convinced  of 
mutual  reasons  for  passing  within  doors.  But  just 
then  the  gentleman  who  was  so  afraid  of  malaria 
said,  with  a  very  high-keyed  yet  decisive  voice  : 

"  Ladies,  don't  be  so  careful  of  yourselves.  Re 
member,  we  are  all  in  the  keeping  of  Providence." 


38  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"  True,  Mr.  Yarde,"  assented  Mr.  Pragley,  with 
an  impressive  cough.  "  Very  true  indeed  !  " 

But  here  Mrs.  Dickerson,  who  had  quieted  her 
obstreperous  darling,  put  her  head  coquettishly 
on  one  side,  so  that  her  acute  chin  looked  in  danger 
of  piercing  a  contiguous  ruffle. 

"  Oh,  come  now,  Mr.  Yarde,"  she  said,  slyly, 
"you  don't  think  much  about  Providence  when 
you  complain  of  bad  drainage  and  things  of  that 
kind." 

Mr.  Yarde  raised  an  almost  transparent  hand  to 
his  pale-yellow  moustache. 

"  Mrs.  Dickerson,"  he  said,  solemnly,  "  I  repose 
the  most  absolute  faith  in  Providence.  But  it 
works  in  mysterious  ways.  I  maintain  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  every  true  Christian  to  keep  his 
drain-pipes  in  good  order,  and  to  avoid  those 
perils  which  science  " 

"  Science ! "  here  broke  in  the  weak-chested 
Miss  Semmes,  plaintively.  "Oh,  don't — phase 
don't  mention  that  word  in  connection  with  Prov 
idence  !  Recollect  the  splendid  sermon  on  modern 
paganism  that  Dr.  Pragley  preached  just  before 
his  vacation  began.  I  don't  mean  the  last  Sunday ; 
I  mean  the  Sunday  before  the  last !  " 

Here  a  chorus  took  up  the  refrain,  so  to  speak. 
The  memory  of  that  penultimate  sermon  was 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  39 

evidently  too  much  for  even  Mr.  Yarde.  He 
joined  in  the  general  dithyramb. 

"  Oh,  yes  !     The  Sunday  before  the  last !  " 

Dr.  Pragley  coughed  and  then  smiled.  All  eyes 
were  directed  upon  him.  All  eyes  were  usually 
directed  upon  him,  as  regarded  the  passionate 
cult  of  his  so-called  flock;  but  when  it  came  to 
be  a  question  of  particular  eulogy,  all  eyes  were 
lighted  with  an  especially  fine  ardor  of  attention. 

Dr.  Pragley  began  to  make  remarks.  When 
his  flock,  or  any  limited  portion  of  it,  behaved  in 
this  fond  way,  he  invariably  made  remarks.  .  .  . 

Meanwhile  Leah,  her  mother  and  Lawrence 
Rainsford  had  left  the  domain  of  Mrs.  Preen's 
boarding-house  and  passed  along  the  skirting  walk 
of  the  adjacent  street.  It  was  now  mature  sum 
mer  ;  here  in  the  heart  of  this  poetic  and  unique 
city  Nature  smiled  and  throve  at  her  best,  though 
restrained  by  an  art  of  easy  and  happy  discipline. 
None  of  the  splendid  abodes  lay  in  this  quarter ; 
it  was  the  inner  heart  of  the  town,  full  of  great 
overshadowing  elms  that  cast  their  sweet  glooms 
across  lawns  cut  into  velvet  trimness  and  spread 
about  homes  whose  thrift  and  peace  were  blent 
with  a  calm  continual  elegance.  The  estates  were 
all  of  meagre  dimension,  for  the  high  value  of 
property  made  this  a  necessity  with  even  their 


40  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

prosperous  owners.  The  large,  drowsy  houses 
suggested,  mostly,  that  generations  had  lived  and 
died  in  them,  but  generations  with  an  inherited 
respect  for  the  repairing  virtues  of  incidental 
paint  and  carpentry.  There  was  no  touch  of  neg 
lect  or  desuetude ;  the  very  elms,  with  their 
cloister-like  arches,  looked  as  if  some  careful  hand 
had  pruned  them  of  the  least  dead  twig.  The 
whole  effect  was  simple,  rural,  provincial,  but 
nevertheless  clearly  patrician. 

"It  might  be  England,"  said  Mrs.  Romilly, 
"and  yet  you  somehow  see  that  it  is  New 
England." 

"  You  won't  say  that  when  you  are  nearer  the 
sea,"  declared  Rainsford.  "  Here  the  dwellings 
all  crowd  together.  But  on  Belle vue  Avenue  and 
in  many  other  portions,  Newport  becomes  finely 
cosmopolitan.  I  have  seen  nearly  all  the  famed 
watering-places,  but  I  have  never  yet  seen  one  to 
which  this  could  be  plausibly  likened." 

"  That  reminds  me,"  here  struck  in  Leah,  with 
quiet  humor.  "  I  set  out  in  search  of  the  sea  yes 
terday  morning  at  a  little  after  seven  o'clock.  We 
came  by  the  boat,  you  know,  and  were  deposited 
at  Mrs.  Preen's  by  about  six.  I  had  slept  quite 
comfortably,  and  wanted  my  breakfast.  But  no 
breakfast  was  to  be  obtained  until  eight.  So  I 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  41 

sallied  forth,  leaving  poor  mamma,  who  had  not 
slept,  recumbent  upon  a  lounge.  I  supposed  that 
the  ocean  was  about  a  hundred  yards  distant.  I 
met  an  old  man  in  this  very  street,  and  asked  him 
the  nearest  way  to  it.  He  gave  me  the  most 
intricate  series  of  directions.  By  degrees  I  began 
to  understand  that  Newport,  which  I  had  always 
imagined  within  a  stone-throw  of  the  Atlantic,  was 
miles  away  from  it." 

"  Not  miles  away,"  corrected  Rainsford,  looking 
at  her  with  a  hint  of  doubt  in  his  pleasant  blue 
eyes  as  to  whether  she  were  serious  or  satirical. 
He  had  fallen  into  a  habit  of  looking  at  her  thus, 
and  perhaps  for  excellent  reasons.  "  There  are 
more  Newports  than  one,"  he  continued,  with  ex 
planatory  gravity,  and  as  if  after  having  assured 
himself  that  she  was  securely  in  earnest.  "  There 
is  this  Newport  through  which  we  now  walk,  and 
which  has  110  marine  flavor,  certainly,  except  what 
comes  from  the  strong,  bluff  breeze  we  are  getting. 
You  don't  have  to  possess  millions  to  spend  a 
summer  here,  though  many  of  these  cottages,  as 
we  call  them,  are  rented  by  millionaires.  Then 
there  is  the  dingy,  shabby,  mercantile  Newport, 
that  fronts  on  Narragansett  Bay.  Its  wharves  are 
ugly  and  dilapidated  enough,  but  many  of  them 
have  an  almost  historic  past.  Then  there  is  the 


42  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

opulent,  showy,  and  aristocratic  Newport,  which  is 
mostly  maritime,  and  has  reared  many  villas  and 
mansions  near  the  Atlantic  that  you  tried  to  re 
discover." 

"  I  want  to  find  that  Newport  now,"  said  Leah, 
in  odd  tones.  "  I  think  that  is  the  one  I  came  to 
see." 

Both  Rainsford  and  her  mother  looked  intently 
at  her  drooped  face  as  she  moved  between  them. 
Then  the  eyes  of  the  mother  and  the  lover  met, 
and  with  mute  meaning,  behind  Leah's  back.  But 
she  herself  somehow  felt  that  the  look  was  being 
exchanged. 

"  What  conspirators  they  are ! "  she  thought. 
"  How  mamma  wants  me  to  marry  him,  and  how 
they  both  fear  that  I  shall  turn  their  little  comedy 
into  a  piteous  farce ! " 

"We  are  near  the  Casino,"  Rainsford  said, 
breaking  a  pause.  "  The  Cliffs  are  still  rather  far 
away." 

"  Oh,  let  us  go  to  the  Casino,  by  all  means ! " 
exclaimed  Leah,  blithely.  "I  have  read  so  much 
about  that  in  the  papers." 

She  expressed  disappointment  as  they  entered 
it,  a  little  later,  by  approaches  that  struck  her  as 
pretty  and  odd,  though  strangely  lacking  in  that 
stateliness  which  she  had  anticipated.  But  when 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  43 

they  had  gained  the  circular  interior,  with  its  roof 
open  to  the  sky,  its  great,  round  of  close-cropped 
verdure,  its  flanking  galleries  of  restaurants  and 
reading-rooms,  its  quaint,  big,  gold-handed  clock, 
looming  above  a  mass  of  Dutch-looking  masonry, 
and  its  general  air  of  amphitheatrical  spaciousness, 
her  opinion  underwent  rapid  change. 

A  capable  band  was  discoursing  excellent  music ; 
the  mellow  cadences  pealed  out  upon  the  bland 
morning  air  with  a  sonorous  fulness.  Within  the 
pavilion  of  dark-painted  wood  that  was  wrought 
somewhat  after  the  Colonial  pattern,  numerous 
ladies  and  gentlemen  were  seated ;  others  moved 
along  the  smooth,  hard  paths.  Beyond,  through 
low  and  broad  openings,  gleamed  a  larger  sweep 
of  lawn,  where  lovers  of  tennis  waved  bats  and 
tossed  balls,  some  of  the  male  players  being  ar 
rayed  in  short  breeches,  hose  and  caps,  whose 
bright  tints  or  fanciful  designs  gave  to  their 
slender  and  youthful  figures  the  look  of  partici 
pants  in  some  jocund  pastoral  revel,  not  unworthy 
of  a  modern  Watteau.  Still  farther  on  rose  a 
structure  dedicated  to  the  double  purpose  of  ball 
room  and  theatre ;  more  than  a  single  admired 
belle  had  made  her  conquests  as  an  amateur  actress 
in  both,  if  the  statement  be  not  uncharitably  in 
clusive.  A  sense  of  blithesome  fete  hung  about 


44  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

the  whole  attractive  spot.  You  felt  that  it  was  all 
a  frivolity,  and  yet  one  of  the  most  tasteful  and 
refined  type.  Whoever  had  planned  its  capabili 
ties  of  enjoyment  had  done  so  with  an  adherence 
to  the  best  artistic  traditions. 

"You  seem  to  know  a  number  of  the  people 
here,"  said  Leah  to  Rainsford.  "I  notice  that  you 
bow  quite  often." 

"  That  is  hardly  strange,"  he  answered. 

"Surely  not,"  broke  in  Mrs.  Romilly,  "when 
you  have  lived  so  many  years  in  Newport."  She 
spoke  only  to  Rainsford,  and  as  if  propitiatingly. 

"  But  Newport  people  are  New  York  people  as 
well,"  persisted  Leah,  with  her  eyes  fixed  on  Rains- 
ford  alone.  "  Or,  rather,  they  belong,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  the  large  cities  of  which  New  York  is 
chief.  And  always  before,  when  I  have  met  you, 
you  have  appeared  such  a  recluse  —  so  wholly  ab 
sorbed  in  your  painting  —  so  indifferent  to  any 
thing  like  an  acquaintanceship.  Now,  for  my  own 
part,  I  envy  you  if  you  know  some  of  these  ladies 
and  gentlemen.  I  have  observed  more  than  one 
whom  I  should  think  it  would  be  very  pleasant  to 
know." 

Rainsford  watched  her,  for  a  moment,  with  his 
sedate  smile.  "  They  seem  to  return  your  compli 
mentary  opinions,"  he  said. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  45 

"  Do  you  think  so  ?  "  asked  Leah,  eagerly.  She 
glanced  here  and  there,  for  a  little  while,  and  then 
turned  laughingly  to  her  mother. 

"I  believe  it  is  true!"  she  exclaimed,  softly. 
"  You  remember  our  talk  this  morning." 

"  Yes  —  I  remember  it  very  well,"  answered 
Mrs.  Romilly.  The  intonation  that  went  with 
these  words  made  Lawrence  Rainsford  fix  his  eyes 
in  astonishment  on  the  face  of  Leah's  mother. 
He  found  it  transiently  saddened,  just  as  her  voice 
had  been.  . 

He  esteemed  Mrs.  Romilly  as  much  as  he  loved 
her.  They  were  stanch  friends ;  there  was  a  per 
fect  understanding  between  them ;  his  affection  for 
her  was  reverential. 

"  She  is  deeply  distressed  by  something,"  he 
thought.  "I  wonder  what  it  is."  At  the  same 
instant  he  realized  that  a  certain  shadow  of  fore 
boding  had  crossed  his  own  spirit. 

But  now,  while  they  both  looked  toward  Leah, 
as  if  by  some  mutual  impulse  of  explanation  they 
discovered  that  she  had  withdrawn  a  little  apart 
from  them,  and  had  become  suddenly  engaged  in 
conversation  with  two  ladies. 

They  were  young  ladies  ;  Mrs.  Romilly  at  once 
recognized  them,  and  so  did  Rainsford.  They  were 
sisters ;  their  name  was  Marksley ;  they  had  crossed 


46  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

in  the  same  steamer  with  Leah  and  her  mother,  on 
that  voyage  during  which  the  two  latter  had  made 
Rainsford's  acquaintance. 

They  were  thin  girls,  with  rather  pretty  faces  a 
good  deal  alike,  and  very  much  of  what  our  special 
time  calls  style,  without  having  any  of  what 
nearly  all  times  have  agreed  to  call  grace.  They 
were  dressed  with  excessive  costliness ;  their  robes 
and  bonnets  must  have  been  minor  marvels  in  the 
matter  of  expenditure.  They  had  a  shrill  yet  not 
unmusical  way  of  speaking,  a  slightly  exaggerated 
way  of  moving  their  arms,  hands  or  bodies,  and  a 
method  of  expressing  themselves  that  surpassed 
all  limits  of  moderation  and  became,  on  the  least 
incentive,  a  positive  riot  of  superlatives.  They 
are  thus  collectively  described  because  of  their 
strong  resemblance  in  almost  every  mental  or  per 
sonal  detail.  One  was  named  Louisa  and  one 
Caroline,  but  only  their  very  intimate  friends 
recollected  precisely  who  was  who. 

Leah  has  not  cared  much  about  them  on  the 
steamer,  though  she  had  never  given  them  enough 
thought  to  decide  that  she  disliked  them.  But 
they  had  not  the  accent  of  importance  which  now 
seemed  to  mark  them;  they  had  been  mild  prat 
tlers,  then,  with  no  stamp  of  fashion  upon  them, 
no  evidence  of  belonging  to  any  notable  circle.  She 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  47 

was  now  not  quite  sure  whether  or  no  it  was  the 
chic  of  the  place  in  which  she  had  met  them  that 
really  gave  them  their  striking  novelty. 

What  they  said  to  Leah  caused  her  to  raise  her 
brows  in  sharp  surprise.  Several  yards  behind  the 
Misses  Marksley  stood  a  gentleman,  who  slowly 
advanced  the  moment  that  Leah  directed  her 
gaze  upon  his  face,  —  which  she  did  for  a  good 
reason. 

The  Misses  Marksley  had  effusively  assured  her 
that  this  gentleman  had  desired  to  make  her  ac 
quaintance. 

Both  watching,  both  listening,  and  both  as  yet 
having  received  no  signs  of  greeting  from  the  sis 
ters,  Mrs.  Romilly  and  Rainsford  held  a  short  con 
versation  together.  Amid  the  reigning  atmos 
phere  of  festival,  their  few  exchanged  sentences, 
had  these  been  overheard,  might  have  struck  a 
keenly  dissonant  note. 

"  They  wish  to  present  to  her  Mr.  Tracy  Tre- 
maine,"  murmured  Leah's  mother.  "  Who  is 
he?" 

"  You  see  him,"  answered  Rainsford. 

"Yes  — I  see  him." 

"  What  do  you  think  of  him  ?  " 

"He  is  handsome,  certainly.  He  has  the  look 
of  a  very  fashionable  man." 


48  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"He  is." 

"Do  you  know  him?" 

"  We  are  on  speaking  terms." 

"  He  has  asked  to  know  Leah  ?  " 

"  You  heard  what  the  Misses  Marksley  said." 

Here  Mrs.  Romilly  looked  with  great  directness 
at  Rainsford's  grave  and  placid  face.  Then  she 
rested  her  hand  upon  his  full,  solid  arm. 

"You  have  some  fear?"  she  said.  "You  are 
sorry  that  I  have  brought  her  here  ?  " 

Rainsford  evaded  both  questions.  "I  do  not 
care  to  have  her  meet  that  man,"  he  responded. 


III. 

gentleman  whom  we  have  heard  called 
r*-  Tracy  Tremaine  had  now  drawn  quite  close 
to  the  Misses  Marksley.  Both  young  ladies  burst 
into  a  self-conscious  laugh  as  he  did  so.  The 
two  laughs  were  quite  similar.  The  mirth  of 
the  sisters,  like  everything  else  about  them  ex 
cept  their  clothes,  had  no  individuality,  no  meum 
et  tuum.  They  never  duplicated  each  other's 
magnificence  of  raiment.  Had  they  really  been 
twins  instead  of  having  a  year  between  their 
ages,  they  could  not  have  striven  more  success 
fully  to  veil  this  fact  by  a  diversity  of  costume. 
Caroline  now  went  through  the  formula  of 
introduction,  presenting  Mr.  Tremaine  to  Miss 
Romilly;  but  the  words  had  no  sooner  been 
spoken  than  Louisa  took  up  the  burden  of  civility, 
as  it  were.  These  young  ladies  were  perpetually 
playing,  in  fact,  just  such  a  conversational  game 
of  pitch-and-toss.  The  shuttle-cock  of  their  in 
telligence  was  always  floating  from  lip  to  lip,  and 

49 


50  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

not  seldom  with  a  feathery  lightness  easily  ex 
plainable. 

"Mr.  Tremaine  would  have  gone  mad  in  about 
ten  minutes  longer,  my  dear,  unless  he  had  met 
you,"  said  Louisa,  laying  one  specklessly-gloved 
hand  on  Leah's  wrist.  "I  never  heard  of  such 
a  perfectly  instantaneous  conquest." 

"Yes,"  chimed  in  Caroline,  catching  the  shuttle 
cock,  as  it  were,  and  continuing  the  violent  super 
latives.  "A  decent  feeling  of  Christian  chanty, 
my  dear,  made  us  grant  his  passionate  en 
treaties  before  it  was  too  late.  As  it  is,  we  Ve 
saved  him  from  utter  insanity  in  the  nick  of 
time." 

They  both  wheeled  their  thin  bodies  toward 
Mr.  Tremaine  with  exactly  the  same  rapid,  bend 
ing  movement. 

"  Now  we  '11  leave  you  to  your  fate,"  declared 
Caroline,  addressing  the  gentleman. 

"And  try  to  be  resigned  to  our  own,"  pro 
ceeded  Louisa,  re-wheeling  herself  toward  Leah 
the  next  moment,  promptly  followed  by  her 
sister.  "You're  looking  so  immensely  well,  I 
don't  wonder  he  was  wild  to  be  presented." 
Louisa's  face  was  very  close  to  Leah's  by  this 
time,  but  only  a  few  inches  closer  than  that  of 
Caroline. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  51 

"  He  's  an  enormous  swell,  my  dear,"  whispered 
the  latter. 

"  Oh,  perfectly  tremendous,"  came  the  sisterly 
echo  —  "  if  you  care  for  that  sort  of  thing.  You 
didn't  use  to  on  the  steamer,  don't  you  know?" 

"Neither  did  you,"  responded  Leah,  who  was 
not  thoroughly  sure  whether  she  understood  this 
ilorid  species  of  slang. 

"  Oh,  we  're  awfully  changed  since  we  came 
back,"  maintained  Caroline. 

"  Yes,  dreadfully,"  affirmed  Louisa.  They 
both  laughed  again  and  then  exchanged  a  little 
nod. 

While  Leah  looked  puzzled  as  to  the  meaning 
of  this  last  ambiguous  outburst,  the  double  fusil 
lade  recommenced. 

"Now  do  tell  us  where  you  are  stopping,  and 
if  you  mean  to  stop  long." 

"Yes,  do!" 

"  We  shall  be  so  enchanted,  my  dear,  to  come 
and  see  you ! " 

"  Yes,  we  shall  so  perfectly  love  to  come  !" 

Leah  had  scarcely  given  the  full  required 
answer  before  the  Misses  Marksley,  both  per 
ceiving  Mrs.  Romilly  and  Rainsford  at  what 
seemed  precisely  the  same  moment,  took  several 
sidelong  slips  in  the  direction  of  the  elder  lady 


52  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

and  her  companion,  their  splendid  robes  rustling 
after  them,  the  right  hand  of  each  cordially  out 
stretched,  and  either  mouth  wearing  a  smile  whose 
accurate  measurements  would  doubtless  have 
shown  the  most  rigid  equality. 

They  had  seemed  to  come  and  go  in  a  kind  of 
gentle  social  tempest.  Leah  now  looked  at  the 
gentleman  whom  they  had  left,  so  to  speak, 
behind  them.  She  had  not  truly  observed  him 
before ;  as  she  regarded  him  at  present  it  struck 
her  that  he  was  extremely  handsome. 

"  I  suppose  my  silence,"  he  began,  "has  appeared 
to  you  a  very  awkward  affair,  Miss  Romilly.  I 
should  n't  dispute  that  point  with  you  for  an 
instant.  But  the  Misses  Marksley  are  great  mo 
nopolists  —  I  mean  conversationally,  you  know." 

The  speaker  drawled  these  words  a  little  as  he 
delivered  them,  and  showed  what  Leah  thought 
an  English  mode  of  utterance  ;  but  she  found  his 
voice  peculiarly  rich  and  sweet,  it  also  occurred 
to  her  that  she  had  never  seen  a  male  face  of  so 
much  strong  yet  half-feminine  beauty.  Mr.  Tre- 
maine  was  tall  and  very  slim  of  build  ;  his  clothes 
hung  rather  loosely  about  his  person,  yet  their  out 
lines  implied  careful  tailoring.  He  moved  his 
limbs  in  a  languid,  unstudied  way  ;  he  occasionally 
thrust  his  shapely  white  hands  into  his  pockets, 


TINKLING  CYMBALS.  53 

and  then  withdrew  them ;  he  appeared  indolently 
restless.  He  had  the  air  of  a  tired  man  and  of  a 
somewhat  dissatisfied  one  ;  he  also  suggested  a 
close  adherence  to  a  certain  code  of  polite  behav 
ior.  But  he  did  not  give  you  the  impression  of 
being  at  all  a  fop  ;  he  had  evidently  paused  well 
inside  the  limits  of  anything  like  senseless  carica 
ture. 

His  eyes  were  large,  soft,  and  of  a  dark  blue. 
Lashes  of  unusual  length  shaded  them,  and  they 
were  a  feature  that  even  in  a  commonplace  coun 
tenance  would  have  held  their  own  through  an 
unfailing  charm.  The  remainder  of  his  face  was 
regular  almost  to  the  degree  of  perfection  ;  a  flow 
ing  silky  moustache,  amber  in  hue,  waved  along 
either  oval  cheek ;  the  chiselling  of  nose  and  chin 
was  little  short  of  exquisite,  and  his  uniform 
pallor  aided  you  to  see,  perhaps,  how  well  they 
would  have  borne  precise  copying  by  some  deft 
sculptor. 

"  Yes,"  said  Leah,  not  knowing  how  intently  she 
scanned  this  face,  whose  beauty  was  in  reality  fas 
cinating  her,  "  the  Misses  Marksley  are  surely 
great  talkers.  It  never  specially  occurred  to  me 
that  they  were  until  now.  But,  then,  our  acquaint 
ance  has  always  been  slight.  I  suppose  you  know 
them  very  well  ?  " 


54  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

He  answered  her  with  lowered  voice  and  a  little 
impatient  stroke  of  his  moustache.  "  I  ?  Really, 
we  are  almost  strangers.  Do  you  think,  under 
those  circumstances,  that  I  took  an  unwarrantable 
liberty  in  getting  them  to  present  me  to  your 
self?" 

Leah  seemed  to  muse  for  a  moment. 

"  Not  at  all,"  she  then  said,  with  an  arch  chal 
lenge  in  her  brown  eyes.  "  If  you  truly  wished 
to  know  me  it  was  the  proper,  straightforward 
course." 

"  So,  then,  .  .  you  quite  approve  of  it  ?  " 

She  gave  her  smileless  laugh,  that  some  women 
thought  so  hard  and  haughty,  but  that  men  often 
found  provocative  of  a  new  and  keen  enjoyment. 

"If  I  had  not  approved,  you  may  be  certain  I 
would  very  soon  have  made  my  disapproval  clear." 

"  I  don't  understand,"  he  said,  looking  surprised 
enough. 

"  Don't  you  ? "  she  replied,  with  what  would 
have  been  pertness  on  many  other  lips.  "  I  mean 
that  if  I  had  n't  cared  to  meet  you  I  should 
promptly  have  shown  you  so." 

"  Indeed  !  "  he  said. 

She  had  wakened  his  positive  wonderment.  He 
was  wholly  unprepared  for  her  composed  inde 
pendence.  He  had  been,  almost  from  boyhood,  an 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  55 

accepted  favorite  with  the  other  sex.  The  Misses 
Marksley,  in  their  fervid  vernacular,  had,  after  all, 
classed  him  correctly.  In  exclusive  cliques  he  un 
doubtedly  reigned  a  power.  He  had  been  born 
among  exclusive  cliques,  as  it  were,  and  had  rarely 
seen  others.  In  these  no  one  had  ever  yet  denned 
his  popularity.  He  was  considered  a  man  of  edu 
cational  store  and  mental  capacity,  but  so  innately 
lazy  as  to  employ  neither  at  its  proper  worth.  He 
was  known  to  have  lived  by  no  means  a  flawless 
life.  He  was  admitted  to  have  retained  and  even 
nursed  some  distinct  vices.  He  had  no  stainless 
repute  for  good  manners,  while  his  ability  "  to  act 
the  thorough  gentleman  if  he  pleased"  was  broadly 
conceded  him  —  as  though  manners  were  a  porta 
ble  garment,  worn  or  shifted  at  pleasure,  and  not 
an  apparel  as  inseparable  from  real  personality  as 
skin  from  flesh.  It  was  well  understood  that  he 
had  spent  half  of  an  ample  fortune,  and  was  now 
no  longer  rich  according  to  the  standard  of  opu 
lence  set  by  those  with  whom  he  held  constant 
association,  though  expectant  of  a  liberal  future 
inheritance  from  a  mother  who  had  no  child  save 
himself.  But  in  spite  of  all  such  drawbacks  he  was 
petted,  caressed,  indulged  by  his  own  set.  His 
prominence  and  his  influence  continued  indisputa 
ble,  and  nobody  could  explain  either. 


56  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

Leah's  cool  assumption  of  the  role  which  chooses 
to  accept  or  reject  courtesies  rather  than  seek  and 
be  glad  for  them  had  amazed  and  even  dismayed 
him.  If  he  had  riot  decided  that  she  was  excep 
tionally  beautiful  —  if  he  had  not  made  up  his 
mind,  after  the  few  words  exchanged  between  them, 
that  she  was  endowed  with  a  nameless  and  rare 
.personal  attraction,  he  would  have  found  it  in  him 
to  seize  some  ungallant  pretext  for  quitting  her 
society.  He  would  afterward  have  denied  the  com 
mission  of  such  a  rudeness  if  charged  with  it ;  he 
would  simply  have  retired  from  the  prospect  of 
being  bored  (as  he  always  so  retired  when  that 
prospect  became  at  all  apparent  to  him)  and  have 
accounted  for  his  incivility  with  some  sort  of 
plausible  and  quick-coined  misstatement. 

As  it  chanced,  however,  the  intention  of  retreat 
was  very  remote  from  his  mind.  "  Are  you  in  the 
habit  of  wearing  your  heart  on  your  sleeve  after 
this  extremely  candid  fashion  ? "  he  continued. 
"  If  so,  you  must  contrive  to  make  it  disagreeable 
enough  for  your  unfavored  admirers." 

"  I  should  probably  do  so,"  returned  Leah,  look 
ing  demurely  amused,  "  if  I  had  any  admirers  to 
deal  with." 

"  Oh,"  said  Tracy  Tremaine,  nearly  under  his 
breath,  while  his  eyes  seemed  to  kindle  a  little  be- 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  57 

neath  their  lowered  lids,  "  I  can  believe  a  good  deal 
at  a  pinch,  but  there  are  limits,  you  know,  to  the 
most  ardent  faith." 

Leah  liked  this.  Its  artificiality  refreshed  her. 
It  resembled  the  passing  odor  of  some  hothouse 
plant.  And  she  loved  hothouse  plants ;  they  were 
so  choice  and  sleek  beside  the  hardier  out-of-door 
growths.  Without  really  understanding  it,  she  had 
a  weary  distaste  for  simplicity  and  sincerity ;  she 
longed  after  those  trifling  subtleties,  railleries,  in 
nuendoes,  which  by  some  instinct  she  believed 
existent  in  other  unenjoyed  states  of  social  inter 
course.  She  had  a  desire  to  shut  her  windows 
from  the  sunshine,  as  something  too  prevalent  and 
commonplace  ;  she  would  light  chandeliers  instead, 
and  watch  their  lustre  play  on  folded  tapestries. 
It  did  not  occur  to  her  that  this  impulse  was  un 
wholesome  or  morbid,  for  her  complete  ignorance 
of  how  those  daintier  people  really  lived  whose  way 
of  living  addressed  her  imagination  in  terms  at  once 
of  culture  and  picturesqueness,  kept  aloof  all  hint 
of  underlying  evil.  She  would  have  told  you,  with 
a  delicious  childish  candor,  if  you  had  questioned 
her  on  the  subject,  that  she  gave  such  people  credit 
for  being  as  fair  within  as  without  —  for  having 
honor  and  conscience  as  well  ordered  as  their  cos 
tumes  and  as  blameless  as  their  bodily  habits. 


58  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

Coming  fresh  from  the  morality  and  optimism  of 
her  mother,  she  had  begun  to  look  at  life  with  an 
arrogant  innocence.  She  took  it  splendidly  for 
granted  that  most  people  were  good ;  she  had  never 
known  any  positively  bad  ones.  She  had  known, 
she  was  always  meeting,  those  who  roused  her 
humor,  her  ridicule,  even  her  cruel  and  un discrim 
inating  satire.  This  point  in  her  curious  nature 
(to  some  so  loveless,  to  others  illogically  lovable) 
we  have  noted,  it  will  be  remembered,  before  now, 
while  emphasizing,  as  well,  the  regret  with  which 
her  mother  had  watched  it.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  not  to  lie,  to  cheat,  to  steal,  to  injure  one's 
fellow-creatures  in  any  malignant  way,  seemed  for 
Leah  an  accepted  and  operative  human  code.  As 
for  keeping  one's  self  select,  she  held  that  to  be 
quite  another  matter.  The  older  that  she  grew 
the  more  she  decided  that  there  was  an  enormous 
majority  of  people  in  the  world  whom  she  did  not 
wish  to  know.  But  those  who  attracted  her  by  the 
quality  which  we  call  patrician,  won  at  the  same 
time  her  moral  respect  and  support,  though  per 
haps  unconsciously  to  her  proud  young  mind. 

While  Tracy  Tremaine's  compliment  pleased 
Leah,  she  chose,  nevertheless,  to  receive  it  without 
a  sign  of  clemency.  Her  eyes  wandered  from  his 
attentive  face  ;  they  surveyed  the  lawny  court  near 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  59 

at  hand;  they  swept  the  breezy  arc  of  pavilion 
which  fronted  her,  and  in  which  she  and  her  com 
panion  then  stood.  As  her  small  head  moved  thus 
from  side  to  side  on  its  slender  prop  of  neck,  the 
grace  of  the  motion  made  its  delicate  disdain  very 
piquant  and  alluring  for  him  who  observed  it. 

"  Let  us  change  the  subject,"  she  said,  with  an 
airy  abruptness  that  would  have  been  fuel  for  his 
polite  wrath  if  almost  any  other  woman  had  em 
ployed  it.  "  Let  us  speak  of  those  Misses  Marks- 
ley.  They  amuse  me.  They  did  n't  when  I  met 
them  on  the  steamer,  some  time  ago,  but  they 
do  now.  I  thought  them  dull  and  uninteresting 
then;  but  now  .  .  well,  now  they  are  somehow 
altered." 

"  I  fancy  Newport  has  altered  them,"  said  Tre- 
maine,  reluctantly,  as  though  he  did  not  quite  like 
being  shunted  back  into  this  deserted  conversa 
tional  channel.  t 

Leah  lifted  her  brows.  "Newport?  How?" 
Her  surprised  query  made  him  suddenly  feel  con 
cerned  in  answering  it.  He  saw  an  opportunity 
of  diverting  her,  and  did  not  himself  realize  how 
rapid  yet  strong  a  value  he  put  upon  it. 

"Why,  in  this  way,"  he  promptly  said,  with  a 
cold  drawl  in  his  lazy  voice  that  was  the  merciless 
prelude  of  his  coming  comments.  "  They  got  here 


60  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

rather  early  —  I  think  it  was  some  time  in  June 
.  .  it's  nearly  August  now  .  .  yes,  it  must  have 
been  June.  Well,  they  had  secured  a  nice  cot 
tage  on  Narragansett  Avenue,  and  they  used  to 
drive  about  with  their  stout  papa  in  a  rather  hand 
some  trap.  They  knew  scarcely  anybody,  but  all 
of  a  sudden  they  made  the  most  desperate  dash." 

"  What  is  a  desperate  dash  ?  "  asked  Leah. 

Tremaine  laughed.  "Why,  they  tried  to  get 
about  to  places,"  he  said.  "Newport  is  very  funny 
that  way.  It  gives  people  a  kind  of  fever  some 
times.  They  come  here  with  a  lot  of  money,  you 
know,  and  take  a  liking  to  the  style,  the  swagger  of 
things,  and  then  they  make  a  plunge  —  they  try  to 
get  in  the  swim,  as  we  call  it  here.  Occasionally 
they  succeed.  But  it 's  always  foolish  to  show  any 
great  eagerness.  I  suppose  that  is  the  folly  the 
Misses  Marksley  have  committed.  Newport  has 
gone  to  their  heads,  and  they  make  this  fact  ab 
surdly  plain.  They  're  nice  enough  girls  in  their 
way ;  it 's  true  they  're  rather  bad  form,  and  then 
they  dress  too  much,  though  that  sin  is  widely 
enough  committed  here.  But  they've  got  a  jolly 
manage;  they  know  how  to  entertain  ever  so 
well.  Yet  their  trouble  is  that  they  went  to 
work  with  a  jump  instead  of  a  push.  Every 
body  laughs  at  them  ;  they  're  not  a  bit  of  a  sue- 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  61 

cess.  They're  the  most  frighful  snobs,  and  yet 
the  idea  of  getting  among  the  big  swells  is  so  new 
to  them  that  they  scarcely  know  who  is  who. 
They  're  in  a  perpetual  fever  to  be  received  by  peo 
ple,  and  people  are  in  a  perpetual  fever  to  avoid 
receiving  them.  I  dare  say  it  will  end  by  their 
being  asked  everywhere ;  they  've  got  such  a  pile 
of  money,  and  the  papa  is  a  very  decent  fellow ; 
I  've  heard  he  's  related  to  some  Ohio  senator,  or 
somebody  like  that.  But  at  present  they  're  the 
sport  of  the  place ;  they  quite  beat  Polo  and  the 
Casino  balls  and  the  Skating  Rink,  I  assure  you." 

All  this  was  delightful  to  Leah.  She  had  no 
sense  of  its  being  cruel.  She  had  fallen  into  the 
habit  herself,  long  ago,  of  seeing  the  ludicrous 
sides  of  people  and  pelting  these  with  her  swift 
irony. 

"I'm  very  glad  you  told  me  about  them,"  she 
said.  "  You  give  them  a  wholly  new  value." 

"  I  'm  afraid  you  have  n't  much  pity." 

"  Oh,  that  is  what  mamma  says,"  she  cried,  softly, 
and  in  the  smile  that  touched  her  lips  and  fled 
there  was  a  gleam  of  light  scorn.  "  It  never  oc 
curs  to  me  that  people  who  are  queer  deserve  any 
pity.  They  have  no  business  to  be  queer,  and  when 
they  are,  then  let  them  pay  the  penalty  by  enter 
taining  us,  who  are  not." 


62  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

Just  at  this  time  a  lady  passed  near  the  spot  on 
which  they  were  standing.  Two  gentlemen  accom 
panied  her.  She  nodded  and  smiled  as  she  looked 
at  Tracy  Tremaine,  who  at  once  raised  his  hat. 
But  her  eyes  dwelt  on  his  face  only  an  instant ; 
they  were  speedily  transferred  to  Leah's. 

The  girl  had  never  before  felt  herself  the  object 
of  so  piercing  yet  transitory  a  stare.  The  lady's 
eyes  were  brilliantly  black,  and  they  seemed  to 
sweep  her  image,  from  the  flowers  on  her  sun-hat 
to  the  tip  of  her  boot;  while  at  the  same  time 
Leah  herself  felt  that  not  a  single  point  in  her 
attire,  not  a  single  mark  of  visage  or  posture,  had 
escaped  this  fleet  yet  acute  scrutiny. 

But  when  she  had  passed  still  farther  onward, 
the  lady  chose  to  refix  her  look  upon  Tremaine. 
As  she  did  so  the  turn  of  her  full  olive  throat  be 
came  apparent  to  Leah,  and  the  jaunty,  brisk  move 
ments  of  her  somewhat  small  person.  At  the  same 
time  she  held  up  one  plump  forefinger,  and  shook 
it  at  Tremaine. 

"Remember  my  lunch,  please.  One  o'clock, 
sharp !  You  are  always  late.  You  have  only  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  as  it  is." 

When  the  speaker  had  become  still  more  remote 
Leah  said  to  her  companion : 

"  Who  is  your  odd-looking  friend  ?  " 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  63 

"  Do  you  think  her  odd-looking  ?  "  he  said,  with 
almost  a  start. 

"Not  as  you  would  interpret  the  word,"  Leah 
hastened,  in  a  tone  of  apology  very  rare  with  her. 
"  I  meant  odd-looking  in  the  sense  of  being  very 
well  yet  very  originally  dressed." 

"  Don't  you  like  that  mixture  of  red  and  pink  ? 
I  suppose  it's  Worth;  I  believe  everything  she 
wears  is  Worth." 

Leah  knew  about  Worth.  "  I  like  it  very  much," 
she  said,  "  for  a  woman  as  dark  as  she  is.  But  you 
forget  the  touches  of  yellow  in  her  bonnet,  and  the 
yellow  roses  at  her  breast;  they  helped  the  other 
colors.  She  has  a  face  as  dark  as  an  Egyptian 
girl's.  She  is  extremely  handsome." 

"  So  she  has  been  told,"  said  Tremaine,  dryly. 

"  And  her  name  ?  "  gently  persisted  Leah.  He 
appeared  to  wake  from  a  sort  of  courteous  reverie, 
of  which  Leah  herself,  judging  by  his  rather  ab^ 
sorbed  gaze  straight  into  her  face,  might  very  nat 
urally  have  been  the  object.  "Her  name?"  he 
repeated,  absently.  Then,  as  if  suddenly  aroused, 
he  went  on  :  "  Her  name  —  oh,  yes  ;  it  is  Mrs.  For- 
tescue  —  Mrs.  Abbott  Fortescue."  He  ended  the 
words  with  an  abrupt,  peculiar  laugh. 

"  You  mention  her  name  as  if  you  considered  it 
a  joke,"  said  Leah,  looking  at  him  with  a  lofty 
tranquillity.  "  Do  you  ?  " 


64  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"  Oh,  good  Heavens,  no  !  "  Tremaine  exclaimed, 
in  the  manner  of  one  thrown  off  his  guard,  who 
does  not  often  encounter  such  disarray.  "  By  no 
means,  Miss  Romilly.  What  made  you  suppose 
such  a  thing  ?  Mrs.  Fortescue  and  I  are  very  good 
friends."  He  paused  here,  and  stroked  his  mous 
tache  for  an  instant  as  if  he  were  trying  to  hide 
the  mutinous  smile  beneath  it.  "  It  seemed  a  little 
funny,"  he  went  on,  "to  find  anybody  in  Newport 
who  did  n't  know  that  I  knew  Mrs.  Fortescue  — 
that  was  all." 

"I  don't  doubt  that  my  ignorance  in  other  simi 
lar  ways  will  provoke  your  amusement,"  Leah 
quickly  answered,  "if  you  should  continue  my 
acquaintance."  She  then  glanced  toward  her 
mother  and  Lawrence  Rainsford,  discovering  that 
the  Misses  Marksley  had  left  them. 

At  the  same  time  Mrs.  Romilly  gave  a  meaning 
nod  to  her  daughter.  Leah  at  once  moved  to  her 
mother's  side.  She  did  so  with  her  grandest  air, 
and  as  if  supremely  indifferent  as  to  whether  Tre 
maine  should  follow  or  no. 

"  Mamma  wishes  me,"  she  said,  a  moment  later, 
perceiving  that  Tremaine  did  follow. 

"  Have  I  annoyed  you  ?  "  he  questioned,  while 
walking  at  her  side.  At  the  same  time  it  passed 
through  his  mind :  "  When  have  I  danced  attend 
ance  like  this  on  any  other  woman  ?  " 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  65 

"  I  'm  not  quite  sure  that  you  have  n't  annoyed 
me,"  returned  Leah,  with  her  eyes  persistently 
averted  from  his  own.  She  had  never  carried  her 
sweet,  fair  head  with  more  haughtiness  than  now. 
"  You  will  find  me  sadly  deficient  in  the  valuable 
knowledge  of  Newport  doings.  Is  n't  it  time  that 
you  joined  your  friend,  Mrs. — what  was  her  name? 
—  who  lunches  at  one  o'clock,  sharp  ?  " 

"  What  insolence  !  "  thought  Tremaine.  "  The 
great  Mrs.  Chichester  herself  would  never  dream 
of  it,  even  if  actually  provoked.  Who  can  this 
girl  be,  who  has  the  pride  of  a  young  queen  and 
the  good  looks  of  a  young  goddess  ?  " 

He  did  not  permit  himself  to  be  rebuffed.  He 
made  it  imperative  for  Leah  to  present  him  to  her 
mother.  The  introduction  to  Lawrence  Rainsford 
was  needless. 

He  disliked  Rainsford,  though  scarcely  knowing 
the  man.  He  had  set  him  down  as  a  prig  and  a 
bore.  But  his  slender  white  hand  grasped  Rains- 
ford's  strong  and  brownish  one  with  much  apparent 
warmth.  Tremaine  never  permitted  his  dislikes 
to  interfere  with  his  suavity.  He  avoided  people 
very  often  with  a  good  deal  of  clever  dexterity, 
but  when  brought  face  to  face  with  his  aversions 
he  was  invariably  urbane.  There  was  less  real 
hypocrisy  here  than  might  have  been  supposed ;  he 


66  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

held  an  expressed  animosity  to  be  one  of  the  car 
dinal  vulgarisms.  Mrs.  Fortescue's  luncheon  really 
claimed  him;  it  was,  in  its  way,  a  commandant 
engagement.  But  Leah  chose  to  beam  upon  him 
again  before  he  slipped  off  in  graceful  departure. 
Her  hard  moods  rarely  remained ;  that  was  some 
thing  of  which  her  worst  foe  could  not  accuse  her; 
she  had  always  been  guiltless  of  bearing  grudges. 
Besides,  her  pique  had  been  more  than  half  a  mat 
ter  of  capricious  coquetry ;  perhaps  she  wanted  to 
test  the  real  strength  of  this  sudden  thrall  in  which 
she  perceived,  with  her  first  truly  tingling  sense  of 
conquest,  that  she  had  secured  a  man  whose  atten 
tions  were  ranked  as  high  favor  by  the  most  fastid 
ious  of  her  sisters.  .  .  . 

"  I  think  you  were  almost  cold  to  him,  mamma," 
she  said,  when  Tremaine  had  left  them,  and  while 
her  eyes  followed  the  latter's  figure,  with  its  easy, 
lounging  walk. 

"  Cold,  Leah  ?  "  murmured  her  mother.  There 
was  a  touch  of  perplexity,  of  worriment,  in  the 
brief  utterance. 

"Yes,"  Leah  continued,  a  trifle  sharply.  "It 
was  very  polite  of  him  to  offer  to  send  us  invita 
tions  for  the  Casino  ball  on  Monday  night.  Yet 
you  hardly  thanked  him ;  you  left  all  the  gratitude 
to  me." 


TINKLING  CYMBALS.  67 

"You  seemed  rather  grateful,"  here  broke  in 
Lawrence  Rainsford.  They  had  begun  to  move ; 
Leah  was  between  himself  and  her  mother  as  they 
prepared  to  leave  the  grounds.  They  were  going 
toward  the  place  of  exit,  away  from  the  pavilion, 
beneath  whose  cool  shade  the  band  still  briskly 
wrought  its  inspiriting  melodies. 

"  I  was  grateful,"  Leah  answered  him,  with  in 
creased  sharpness.  She  turned  her  look  full  upon 
Rainsford's  composed  countenance,  which  he  had 
somewhat  drooped,  as  was  often  his  wont.  "  Why 
should  I  not  be,  if  you  please  ?  " 

His  response  was  very  quiet.  "I  don't  know 
why  you  should  be,"  he  said,  evasively.  "  The 
Casino  balls  are  quite  dull,  I  have  found." 

Leah  gave  a  high,  clear  laugh.  "  Good  gra 
cious  ! "  she  exclaimed.  "  Have  you  been  to  any 
of  them  ?  .  .  .  Oh,  well,  I  think  there  's  a  slight 
chance  of  their  affecting  us  differently."  She 
turned  to  her  mother.  "We  are  going,  of 
course." 

"  Going,  Leah  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Romilly,  incredu 
lously.  "  You  can't  mean  it,  child !  You  know 
how  entirely  out  of  society  I  have  been  for  years." 

"  Oh,  if  you  won't  take  me,  Mr.  Tremaine  shall ! " 
returned  Leah,  with  petulant  decisiveness.  "I 
don't  care  whether  it  shocks  people  or  not,  mamma. 


68  TINKLING  CYMBALS. 

I  did  n't  come  to  Newport  to  be  mewed  up  with 
invalid  spinsters  and  lugubrious  divines  from 
Brooktyn."  She  lifted  one  hand  and  swept  it  be 
fore  her.  "  I  like  all  this ;  I  think  it  perfectly 
charming.  It  makes  me  feel  as  if  I  were  being  put 
back  into  my  proper  element."  The  next  instant 
her  face  was  quite  close  to  her  mother's ;  a  smile 
had  broken  over  it,  and  her  brown  eyes,  that  could 
be  so  haughty,  were  sparkling  merrily.  "  Dear 
mamma,"  she  said,  "  don't  take  me  so  seriously. 
Don't  try  to  drive  me  with  a  curb  always.  Throw 
the  reins  on  my  neck  for  once,  and  let  me  have  a 
little  gallop  all  to  myself.  Depend  upon  it,  I 
shan't  run  away  !  " 

Leah's  voice  was  music  itself  now,  and  her  pos 
ture,  while  she  leaned  toward  her  mother  and  they 
still  walked  onward,  exquisite  in  its  lithe,  girlish 
abandonment.  Perhaps  the  rarity  of  these  tender, 
intimate  changes  made  them  irresistible;  perhaps 
they  were  stamped  with  an  original  and  native 
allurement,  like  that  which  so  often  gave  an  unex 
plained  sweetness  to  her  most  wilful  and  impe 
rious  aspects. 

Rainsford  had  scarcely  heard  these  latter  words. 
But  their  caressing  tones  left  him  in  no  doubt  of 
their  true  import ;  he  knew  Leah  in  all  her  phases ; 
he  had  good  reason  for  such  exhaustive  knowledge. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  69 

"  I  don't  believe  anything  would  induce  you  to 
go  alone  to  the  ball  with  Tremaine,"  he  said,  a  lit 
tle  louder  and  quicker  than  he  usually  spoke. 
"  But  even  if  you  went  there  with  your  mother 
on  his  invitation  I  should  much  regret  it." 

Leah  at  once  showed  him  a  frowning  face  and  a 
curling  lip. 

"  I  can't  help  what  you  would  regret  or  sanc 
tion,"  she  retorted,  with  curt  speed. 

Rainsford  looked  very  grave.  He  made  the  only 
reply  that  occurred  to  him,  in  his  earnest  single 
ness  of  motive: 

"  Tracy  Tremaine  is  not  a  man  from  whom  you 
should  accept  favors." 

"What  do  you  know  against  him?"  she  asked, 
with  a  ring  of  eager  defence  in  her  fleet  tones. 

"  I  know  of  nothing  for  him." 

"  That  is  no  answer,"  she  said,  an  angry  throb 
stirring  her  voice.  "  He  pleases  me  exceedingly. 
I  don't  recollect  ever  having  met  any  one  whom  I 
liked  so  well  on  a  short  acquaintance.  He  is  the 
handsomest  man  I  ever  saw.  And  his  manners  are 
perfect.  He  may  not  paint  pictures,  or  aim  at 
being  a  great  celebrity,  but  then  everybody  can't 
dedicate  himself  to  immortality.  There  must 
always  remain  a  few  humble  creatures  who  are 
content  with  respectable  obscurity." 


70  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"  Leah !  "  murmured  her  mother. 

But  Rainsford  bore  this  volley  of  unsolicited 
impudence  in  perfect  silence.  It  roused  no  resent 
ment  ;  it  seemed  only  to  augment  a  certain  fore 
boding  dread. 


IV. 

O  you  think  I  was  rude,  mamma?  "  said  Leah. 
This  was  a  good  quarter  of  an  hour  later. 
She  stood  before  the  mirror  in  her  own  room,  with 
both  arms  lifted  behind  her  head,  as  she  gave  some 
stroke  of  mysterious  repairing  handicraft  to  the 
back  knots  of  her  golden  tresses. 

Mrs.  Romilly  was  in  the  next  chamber,  and  an 
swered  through  its  open  doorway. 

"  You  were  perfectly  pitiless,  as  usual,"  she  said. 
"But  I  do  not  believe  Rainsford  thought  much 
about  your  treatment.  He  was  too  filled  with  con 
cern  at  another  matter." 

Leah  laughed  scornfully.  "  I  shan't  pretend  not 
to  understand  you."  Her  fingers  were  still  en 
gaged  with  her  satin  strands  of  hair;  the  loose 
sleeves,  fallen  from  each  arm,  brought  into  solid 
relief  both  their  slope  and  swell ;  the  palms  of  her 
busy  hands,  turned  toward  the  mirror,  looked  like 
the  pinkish  concaves  of  two  small  but  deep  shells, 
just  above  the  faint  blue  lines  that  crossed  either 
rounded  wrist. 

71 


72  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"  No,  I  shan't  pretend  not  to  understand  you," 
she  repeated,  with  eyes  fixed  on  her  own  comely 
reflection,  as  though  she  were  directly  addressing 
it.  "  You  mean  that  I  have  presumed  to  actually 
enjoy  the  society  of  some  other  than  one  particular 


man." 


"No,  no,  Leah,"  firmly  contradicted  Mrs.  Rom- 
illy.  As  she  spoke  the  last  word  her  stately  figure 
had  reached  the  threshold  of  the  intermediate 
doorway.  Here  she  remained  while  continuing  to 
speak. 

"  No,  Leah,  it  is  not  that.  You  cannot  so  mis 
interpret  Rainsford;  you  have  known  him  too 
long.  He  professes  no  rights  of  supervision  or 
admonition  except  those  of  a  friend." 

"  Why  should  he  do  so  ?  " 

"  Why,  indeed  !  "  A  faint  sigh  went  with  the 
response. 

Leah  turned  suddenly  and  met  her  mother's 
gaze. 

"  Oh,  I  am  so  tired,"  she  said,  in  repressed  tones, 
that  betrayed  dread  of  being  overheard,  while  at 
the  same  time  filled  with  strong  protestation  — 
"  I  am  so  tired  of  having  you  and  Rainsford  take 
it  superbly  for  granted  that  my  matrimonial  future 
is  in  both  your  hands  !  Pray,  how  much  longer 
am  I  to  be  laid  siege  to,  like  a  beleaguered  town  ? 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  73 

As  if  I  did  n't  know  that  you  and  he  were  in  per 
petual  stealthy  collusion  together  !  As  if  I  did  n't 
know  that  you,  mamma,  have  a  ready  little  rem 
edy  for  all  my  discouragements !  Why  on  earth 
don't  you  marry  him  yourself  if  you  think  him  so 
perfect?" 

A  moment  afterward  Leah  had  slipped  to  her 
mother's  side,  and  while  putting  both  arms  about 
Mrs.  Romilly's  neck,  had  kissed  her  on  the  cheek. 
It  was  an  embrace  that  had  nothing  impulsively 
affectionate  ;  there  was  even  a  matter-of-fact  de- 
liberateness  about  it ;  you  might  have  likened  it 
to  the  performance  of  some  little  half-heeded  cer 
emonial. 

"  There,  I  did  n't  mean  that,  of  course,"  she  said, 
while  going  quietly  back  to  the  mirror  again  and 
resuming  her  former  posture.  "  That  was  only  a 
bit  of  my  impertinence,  you  know." 

Several  minutes  elapsed  before  Mrs.  Romilly 
said :  "  Leah,  it  is  an  old  story  to  you  that  I  want 
you  to  be  Rainsford's  wife.  If  you  cared  more  for 
any  other  man  than  you  care  for  him,  I  should  be 
quick  to  dissuade  you  from  such  a  marriage. 
But  I  believe  Rainsford  could  make  you  very 
happy.  As  for  there  being  any  plot  between 
us,  that  is  mere  nonsense,  child.  Rainsford  does 
not  like  this  Mr.  Tremaine,  and  has  given  me 


74  TINKLING  CYMBALS. 

his  reasons.  I  think  they  are  very  fair  and  sensi 
ble  ones." 

"What  are  they?"  asked  Leah.  She  had  ar 
ranged  her  hair  to  her  own  evident  satisfaction. 
She  again  faced  her  mother,  with  a  demeanor  that 
now  had  in  it  strong  apparent  intention  to  listen, 
tolerantly  and  peacefully. 

"They  are  these,"  said  Mrs.  Romilly,  with  a 
brightening  visage,  as  if  glad  of  the  new  receptive 
conditions  under  which  she  could  make  herself 
heard.  "  He  is  a  man  whose  whole  life  is  one  of 
idleness  and  frivolity.  He  is  popular,  in  a  certain 
sense,  yet  in  no  sense  is  he  respected.  He  has 
mental  ability,  yet  he  has  let  it  all  go  to  waste. 
His  world  is  a  narrow,  almost  a  contemptible  one. 
But  he  is  wholly  content  with  it ;  he  sees  nothing 
beyond,  or  rather  he  has  long  ago  shut  his  eyes  to 
any  larger  view.  But,  worst  of  all,  Leah,  he  is 
the  slave  of  a  shallow,  flippant  and  worthless 
woman." 

"  Do  you  mean  Mrs.  Abbott  Fortescue  ?  "  asked 
Leah,  tranquilly. 

Her  mother  started.  "  Yes,  that  is  the  name," 
she  said.  "  Can  he  already  have  told  you  of  this 
intimacy?" 

"Never  mind,  please.  What  does  Lawrence 
Rainsford  say  of  their  relations?" 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  75 

"  Only  what  everybody  says  —  that  they  are  on 
terms  which  society  should  condemn  and  de 
nounce." 

"  Is  this  Mrs.  Fortescue  a  widow  ?  " 

"No  ;  she  has  a  husband  living." 

Leah  shook  her  head  slowly  and  sceptically. 
She  was  asking  herself  what  Rainsford  could 
really  know  of  these  easeful  and  resplendent 
circles,  in  which  his  sober  figure  was  so  seldom  to 
be  met.  She  felt  herself  assume  toward  Tracy 
Treraaine  an  indignantly  defensive  attitude.  She 
grew  sure  that  reckless-tongued  scandal  was  doing 
him  a  signal  injustice.  Besides,  the  girl  might 
have  been  dowered  with  a  much  slighter  fund  of 
self-esteem,  and  yet  have  laid  at  the  door  of  jeal 
ousy  Rainsford's  dispatch  in  making  her  parent 
learn  these  invidious  reports  concerning  Tremaine. 
Indeed,  there  was  very  little  tinge  of  egotism  in 
Leah's  reflections  on  the  subject  of  Rainsford's 
desire  to  marry  her.  She  had  got  to  think  herself 
deferentially  persecuted,  and  to  wonder  if  some 
downright  revolt  on  her  own  side  might  not, 
sooner  or  later,  become  necessary.  As  it  was,  she 
liked  the  young  artist  quite  well  enough  to  let 
him  go  on  loving  her.  This  is  a  species  of  alle 
giance  which  few  women  have  ever  been  known 
to  resent ;  indulgence  is  their  usual  order  of  treat- 


76  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

ment,  even  when  no  trace  of  reciprocal  passion 
exists.  What  gives  to  Doris  the  sudden  frown 
and  the  unpitying  sneer,  is  a  tendency  on  the 
part  of  her  devoted  swain  to  meddle  with  some 
other  little  idyllic  flirtation.  Then  Strephon  ab 
ruptly  becomes  a  nuisance ;  his  hopeless  pleadings 
lose  both  their  poetry  and  their  pathos,  and  she  is 
angry  enough  at  him  for  his  determined  wooing 
to  smite  him  roundly  with  her  crook. 

Matters,  however,  had  reached  no  such  lurid 
climax  with  Leah,  though  she  was  not  by  any 
means  in  the  best  of  humors  when  her  mother  and 
herself  presently  descended  into  the  dining-room. 
The  meal  was  luncheon,  not  dinner,  for  Mrs. 
Preen,  the  proprietress,  had  yielded,  two  or  three 
seasons  ago,  to  that  luxurious  influence  which  has 
been  slowly  taking  possession  of  Newport  like  one 
of  its  own  ubiquitous  fogs,  and  had  surrendered, 
through  the  introduction  of  late  dinners,  her  last 
stronghold  of  domestic  provincialism. 

The  boarders  were  all  assembled  when  Leah 
and  Mrs.  Romilly  took  their  seats.  They  had 
been  assigned  places  on  the  immediate  right  of 
Mrs.  Preen,  who  was  a  lady  well  past  middle  age, 
with  considerable  flesh  and  a  chronic  smile.  Mrs. 
Preen's  smile  was  her  chief  personal  point.  It 
had  a  glowing  amplitude;  it  seemed  to  overflow 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  77 

her  somewhat  puffed  and  sallow  face.  It  was  sel 
dom  absent ;  the  least  temptation  called  it  forth ; 
it  expressed  an  actual  exorbitance  of  amiability. 
But  it  was  accompanied,  at  the  same  time,  by  an 
enormous  eleemosynary  impulse.  The  word  "  poor  " 
was  pathetically  frequent  in  her  conversation. 
She  was  incessantly  pitying  everybody  and  every 
thing,  in  her  corpulent,  beaming,  oleaginous  way. 
You  felt  that  she  was  sincere,  or  at  least  sincere 
for  the  moment.  Without  that  vague  yet  secure 
guarantee  of  amiability,  you  would  have  been 
assailed  by  a  sense  of  repulsion.  But  the  enor 
mous  kindliness  of  Mrs.  Preen  was  an  indisputa 
ble  fact ;  to  receive  her  facile  sunshine  was  not  to 
doubt  the  genuine  source  whence  it  had  emanated. 

"  You  've  been  seeing  something  of  Newport,  I 
s'pose,"  she  soon  said  to  Mrs.  Romilly. 

She  had  what  is  called  the  New  England  accent, 
and  in  spite  of  a  short  clip  given  to  certain  syl 
lables,  she  readily  conveyed  the  impression  of  a 
person  who  has  been  educated,  and  somewhat 
thoroughly. 

"Yes,"  Mrs.  Romilly  at  once  answered.  She 
had  made  up  her  mind  to  like  Mrs.  Preen,  as  she 
usually  made  up  her  mind  to  like  all  people ;  it 
was  part  of  her  philosophy  to  brighten  with  one 
of  her  own  smiles  the  threshold  of  every  new 


78  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

acquaintance.  "We  went  to  the  'Casino.  We 
found  it  very  gay  and  pleasant." 

"  Madam,"  suddenly  said  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pragley, 
looking  with  an  expansive  stare  straight  at  Mrs. 
Romilly,  "did  you  not  also  find  it  very  worldly?" 

Leah  at  once  broke  into  a  full,  careless  laugh. 
This  was  the  first  time  that  Mr.  Pragley  had  ad 
dressed  either  herself  or  her  mother,  although 
both  had  been  formally  presented  to  him  on  a  first 
meeting. 

"Worldly  !"  exclaimed  Leah,  before  her  mother 
could  answer.  "Of  course  it  was!  That  was 
why  we  went." 

An  ominous  silence  followed.  Mrs.  Dickerson's 
dog  gave  a  furtive  bark.  Mrs.  Dickerson  herself 
looked  as  if  her  spare  body  had  been  galvanized 
into  a  condition  of  statuesque  decorum,  while  the 
sly,  pert  little  head  of  the  dog  peered  up  from  her 
lap  as  if  it  sympathized  with  the  shocked  feelings 
of  jts  mistress.  Both  the  Misses  Semmes  fixed 
their  small,  calm  eyes  upon  Leah.  The  Mr.  Yarde 
who  dreaded  malaria  also  gazed  at  her.  But  she 
was  the  recipient  of  one  more  bit  of  scrutiny,  and 
this  was,  in  its  way,  keenly  significant. 

The  Reverend  Mr.  Pragley's  wife  had  arrived 
an  hour  ago,  rather  unexpectedly.  She  was  a 
lady  of  perhaps  five-and-forty ;  she  had  a  long, 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  79 

square-jawed  face,  eyes  of  a  peculiarly  lustreless 
leaden  blue,  and  hair  of  that  dull,  drab  shade 
which  resists  all  the  frosty  attacks  of  time.  She 
was  a  person  noted  for  the  extreme  severity  of 
her  religious  opinions,  and  it  was  currently  stated 
among  her  friends  that  she  had  exerted  marked 
influence  upon  her  lord,  in  the  way  of  urging  him 
to  the  expression  of  his  most  violent  and  denun 
ciatory  views.  She  now  regarded  Leah  with  a 
look  of  mournful  and  shocked  disapproval. 

"  I  hope  you  don't  mean  what  you  say,  miss," 
she  declared,  with  a  manner  of  excessive  aus 
terity.  "  I  hope  you  are  only  joking.  The  love 
of  worldliness  is  so  great  a  human  evil,  that  when 
I  see  my  fellow-creatures  openly  professing  it,  I 
feel  as  if  I  were  called  upon  by  Providence  itself 
to  show  them  the  true  light  —  to — yes,  to  lead 
them  forth  from  spiritual  darkness." 

"Indeed!"  said  Leah.  "Did  it  ever  occur  to 
you,  however,  that  your  illuminative  efforts  might 
not  be  considered  in  just  the  best  taste  ?  " 

Mrs.  Pragley  was  a  sort  of  idol  among  her  con 
stituents,  and  she  was  now  in  the  company  of  at 
least  five  of  them,  her  husband  included.  Leah's 
tone  of  serene  sarcasm  struck  them  as  unpar- 
donably  audacious.  They  exchanged  gloomy 
glances ;  Cigarettte  gave  a  second  little  fragment- 


80  TINKLING    CYMBALS. 

ary  bark,  and  then  Mrs.  Pragley  tartly  broke  the 
ensuing  silence. 

"I  think,  miss,  it  is  always  good  taste  to  try 
and  save  mortals  from  sin." 

"Do  you?"  said  Leah,  tranquil  and  impervious. 
"  But  have  you  ever  reflected  that  all  human  na 
ture  is  fallible,  and  that  when  we  parade  our  own 
virtue,  we  lay  ourselves  under  suspicion  as  to  its 
real  soundness?" 

"  I  never  parade  my  own  virtue ! "  exclaimed 
Mrs.  Pragley. 

"No,  never!"  echoed  Mrs.  Dickerson,  so  em 
phatically  that  her  sharp  chin  struck  against  one 
of  Cigarette's  perked  ears,  and  caused  the  dog  to 
utter  a  little  squeal  of  pain. 

Mr.  Pragley  gave  one  of  his  coughs.  "My 
dear  Amelia,"  he  said,  addressing  his  wife,  "  your 
zeal  carries  you  too  far." 

"Yes,"  shot  Leah's  quiet  speech.  "Beyond  the 
bounds  of  good  breeding." 

Mrs.  Romilly  laid  her  hand  on  Leah's  arm. 
"  My  daughter,"  she  said,  "  I  beg  that  you  will  be 
silent." 

"  Come,  come,"  now  struck  in  Mrs.  Preen,  in 
her  customary  cooing  voice,  "we  had  better  not 
talk  of  each  other's  faults  and  virtues.  I  'm  sure, 
Mrs.  Pragley,  that  poor  Miss  Romilly  did  n't 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  81 

mean  to  offend  your  Christian  feelings.  Young 
people  will  be  young,  you  know,  and  worldly 
things  are  pleasant  to  them.  Newport  is  worldly, 
of  course,  in  the  summer  —  it  is  so  filled  with 
fashionable  people."  After  which  limpid  little 
flow  of  commonplaces,  Mrs.  Preen  gave  her  dulcet 
laugh,  which  had  rich  notes  in  it,  not  unlike  the 
motherly  cluck  made  by  an  especially  contented 
hen.  She  lifted  one  plump  finger  and  shook  it 
playfully  at  Mr.  Yarde ;  she  was  bent,  it  would 
seem,  on  the  restoration  of  peace  among  her 
patrons.  "  Why,  you  poor  Mr.  Yarde,"  she  went 
rippling  on,  "if  you  don't  look  real  alarmed,  I 
d'clare !  It 's  just  a  shame  to  shake  those  poor 
weak  nerves  of  yours  —  now,  is  n't  it,  sir  ?  " 

This  rather  sickly  flash  of  humor  was  received 
somewhat  ungraciously  by  the  cadaverous  Mr. 
Yarde.  "  I  am  much  more  shocked  than  alarmed, 
madam,"  he  returned,  with  acid  brevity,  and  after 
ward  fixed  both  eyes  upon  his  plate. 

"  Dear  me  ! "  piped  the  Miss  Semmes  with  the 
neuralgia;  "  I  hope  there  is  no  occasion  for  fear" 

She  stole  a  look  at  Leah,  which  the  latter  re 
turned  with  a  faint  smile  of  satirical  amusement. 

"  Oh,  of  course,  I  was  only  joking,"  burst  forth 
Mrs.  Preen.  "  Still  you  can  all  scold  poor  me  as 
much  as  you  want,"  she  proceeded,  with  jocund 


82  TINKLING    CYMBALS. 

martyrdom.  "  I  'm  sure  I  shan't  care  a  bit,  as 
long  as  you  won't  disagree  among  each  other." 

Mr.  Pragley  slightly  started,  at  this  point,  and 
gave  a  roll  of  his  black  eyes  that  seemed  to  the 
revering  gaze  of  the  Misses  Semmes  and  Mrs. 
Dickerson  positively  apostolic  in  its  grandeur. 
They  supposed  it  to  be  the  precursor  of  some 
such  memorable  rebuke  as  only  their  sainted 
paragon  could  administer;  but  Jove  concluded 
not  to  hurl  his  thunderbolt  this  time,  and  the  rest 
of  the  meal  passed  in  low-voiced  murmurs  on  the 
part  of  nearly  every  one  present,  to  his  or  her 
immediate  neighbor. 

Only  Leah  and  Mrs.  Romilly  kept  completely 
silent,  the  first  from  apparent  careless  disgust,  the 
last  from  an  unwillingness  to  reprovoke  in  any 
possible  way  that  unconquerable  spirit  of  mischief 
which  had  already  spoken  so  assertively. 

"  You  need  n't  be  distressed  about  me  in  the 
future,"  said  Leah,  when  she  and  her  mother 
had  again  retired  to  their  own  apartments.  "  I 
shan't  notice  any  of  these  dreadful  people  after 
to-day.  They  are  pitiable  travesties  on  humanity. 
They  have  no  right  to  exist  in  this  progressive 
century.  They  belong  to  a  hundred  years  ago, 
at  least,  with  their  nonsensical  puritanic  bigot 
ries." 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  83 

She  kept  her  word.  But  the  manner  which  she 
now  chose  to  assume  was  one  of  supreme,  un 
compromising  haughtiness.  At  dinner  that  same 
evening,  she  sat  beside  her  mother  with  a  posture 
and  a  look  of  repressed  yet  palpable  contempt. 
There  was  no  open  hostility  in  her  deportment ; 
she  contrived  that  no  one  should  catch  her  eye, 
and  yet  she  made  it  sweep  the  whole  table,  now 
and  then,  with  a  peculiar  flutter  of  the  lid,  a 
peculiar  accompaniment  in  the  turn  of  her  neck, 
that  was  far  from  pacifying  her  vigilant  observers. 

"  Leah,"  said  her  mother,  as  they  stood  on  the 
piazza  afterward,  in  the  twilight,  "you  are  only 
adding  fuel  to  the  flame." 

"For  heaven's  sake,  mamma,  what  do  you 
mean  ?  "  she  asked,  with  unruffled  hypocrisy. 

"  Oh,  you  understand.  You  looked  everything 
that  you  wanted  to  say." 

"  I  can't  help  that.  I  can't  control  my  coun 
tenance  as  I  can  my  speech.  That  has  its  separate 
indignation  and  resentment,  I  suppose.  I  confess 
that  I  realized  for  the  first  time  what  satisfaction 
Medusa  must  have  had  in  turning  some  people  to 
stone." 

"  Your  simile  is  an  unlucky  one.  Medusa  was 
the  type  of  a  relentless  cruelty." 

Leah  looked  at   her  mother  with  a  lofty  im- 


84  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

patience.  "  Upon  my  word,  I  believe  you  excuse 
these  persons ! "  she  said. 

"  I  think  they  are  to  be  excused  —  yes.  They 
represent  a  particular  force  in  society;  they  are 
religious  fanatics.  But,  after  all,  they  have  a 
distinct  sincerity  of  their  own." 

"  The  sincerity  of  extreme  impudence,"  said 
Leah.  "I  wonder  whether  Mrs.  Dickerson  con 
siders  it  *  worldly '  or  no  to  decorate  herself  in 
flounces  and  ribbons  as  she  does.  As  if  the  attack 
which  this  Dr.  Pragley  made  upon  you  was  not 
clear  enough  in  its  motive !  He  remembers  who 
you  are.  He  is  one  of  your  old  enemies.  He  has 
told  them  to  treat  you  rudely,  or  try  to  reform 
you,  which  is  about  the  same  thing." 

"  I  am  very  willing  that  they  should  try  to  re 
form  me,"  said  Mrs.  Romilly. 

Leah  almost  stamped  one  of  her  pretty  feet. 
"  Oh,  certainly !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  You  would 
actually  stoop  to  pit  your  wisdom  against  their 
cheap  sentimentalisms.  You  would  let  them  turn 
your  splendid  philosophy  into  mockery  with  their 
pietistic  ignorance  !  You,  who  are  more  soundly 
moral  in  your  finger-nails  than  they,  souls  and 
bodies  all  taken  together,  would  let  them  tell  you 
that  you  are  going  to  be  roasted  in  eternal  tor 
ments.  I  know  just  what  you  would  do  if  you 


TINKLING  CYMBALS.  85 

were  not  afraid  of  my  explosions.  You  would 
stand  up  before  them  as  calm  as  marble,  and 
answer  their  trivial  assaults  with  arguments  that 
they  have  neither  the  education  nor  the  brains  to 
understand.  And  the  sole  reward  you  would  get 
would  be  to  have  them  scream  some  such  stock-in- 
trade  word  as  '  infidel '  at  you  because  you  had 
the  presumption  not  to  accept  their  sulpfrureous 
dogmas." 

"  I  should  not  think  that  my  life  of  study  and 
thought  was  of  any  profit  to  me,"  came  the  slow 
answer,  "  if  it  disabled  me  from  frankly  expressing 
my  beliefs  to  them  in  simple  and  direct  terms. 
We  should  not  garner  seed  except  to  sow  it.  I 
sometimes  think  that  in  these  latter  years  of 
inactivity  I  have  culpably  hoarded  truth  whose 
dissemination  I  owed  to  my  fellow-creatures  as  a 
precious  trust." 

Leah  gave  ah  aggravated  moan.  She  did  not 
speak  for  a  moment ;  she  was  plucking  from  the 
dense  greenery  of  the  thick-twined  vine  just  in 
front  of  her  a  little  pearly  spray  of  honeysuckle. 
She  performed  this  act  with  swift  movements  of 
her  agile  white  fingers,  as  though  wreaking  upon 
the  helpless  bloom  the  force  of  a  strong  irritation. 

"  I  'm  glad  that  I  'm  not  great,  like  you, 
mamma,"  she  presently  said,  while  fixing  the  spray 


86  TINKLING  CYMBALS. 

in  the  bosom  of  her  muslin  dress.  "  You  make 
me  feel  immensely  contented  with  my  own  little 
ness,  and  as  if  cloudland,  after  all,  couldn't  com 
pare  with  my  terrestrial  comforts." 

Mrs.  Romilly  caught  her  hand  and  pressed  it. 
While  she  still  held  it,  too,  she  spoke. 

"  Leah !  Leah !  you  often  say  things  at  your 
very  lightest,  child,  that  seem  to  cast  doubt  on 
your  own  levity.  There  is  often  something  in 
your  words  and  deeds  that  frightens  me." 

"  Why  ? "  asked  Leah  suddenly,  and  with  al 
tered  intonation. 

"  Because  I  feel  that  you  will  some  day  bend  on 
life  such  different  eyes !  —  eyes,  I  mean,  that  have 
shed  tears,  my  daughter.  Yours  have  shed  none, 
as  yet.  Sorrow  has  not  taught  you  one  of  her 
dreary  tasks.  She  can  tame  us  so  terribly  with 
her  ferule  of  iron,  while  we  spell  out  with  sobs 
the  hard  texts  in  her  stern  little  primer ! " 

When  Lawrence  Rainsford  presently  appeared, 
joining  them  on  their  special  corner  of  the  piazza, 
Leah  chose  to  treat  him  with  a  delicious  forgetful- 
ness  of  her  own  past  incivility.  He  bore  this 
valuable  piece  of  indulgence  with  a  stoic  disre 
gard  of  its  condescension.  He  listened  with 
great  attention  while  she  related  all  that  had 
passed  at  luncheon.  She  gave  him  a  very  faithful 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  87 

account,  though  one,  at  the  same  time,  in  which 
her  severities  of  epithet  ran  riot,  bathing  every 
sentence,  as  it  left  her  lips,  in  a  lambent  play  of 
ruthless  ridicule. 

"  Now,  you  must  not  even  hint  that  you  think 
me  the  least  bit  in  the  wrong,"  she  finished. 
"  Mamma  has  greatly  distressed  me  by  inferring 
it.  I  have  engaged,  however,  to  behave  with 
meekness  in  the  future,  provided  the  enemy  fires 
no  more  guns  at  either  of  us." 

"You  left  out  that  proviso  before,  Leah,"  said 
her  mother. 

"  I  am  afraid,  if  she  retains  it,"  said  Rainsford 
to  Mrs.  Romilly,  "  that  the  war  is  by  no  means 
ended." 

"  You  mean  that  they  will  make  another  attack?  " 
questioned  Leah.  "  Oh,  well,  let  them.  In  that 
case  I  shall  certainly  give  them  a  few  silencing 
broadsides.  In  the  name  of  all  decency,"  she 
went  on,  "  are  we  to  be  persecuted  like  this  for 
the  whole  of  the  next  month  ?  I  wonder  what 
they  will  say  or  do  when  they  see  mamma  and 
myself  depart  en  grande  tenue  for  the  Casino 
ball." 

A  silence  followed.  The  piazza  was  now  quite 
dim  with  the  increased  nightfall.  But  Leah,  after 
her  abrupt  little  allusion,  managed  to  watch  with 


88  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

covert  intentness  the  vague  faces  of  Rainsford 
and  her  mother.  She  saw  these  faces  momentarily 
turned  toward  each  other,  as  though  for  the  ex 
change  of  that  same  meaning  look  with  which 
past  experience  had  so  well  familiarized  her.  But 
Rainsford,  when  he  now  spoke,  chose  to  say,  in 
quite  his  ordinary  voice: 

"It  might  be  well  to  change  your  boarding- 
place  for  more  congenial  quarters.  I  could  easily 
extricate  you,  I  think,  from  present  surround 
ings  ;  and,  indeed,  I  suppose  it  is  my  duty  to  make 
the  attempt,  since  I  am  innocently  blamable  for 
having  lodged  you  at  Mrs.  Preen  V 

Before  either  Leah  or  Mrs.  Romilly  could 
answer,  a  large  figure  was  seen  approaching  this 
end  of  the  piazza  in  the  uncertain  light.  It 
proved  to  be  Mrs.  Preen,  who  held  a  letter  in 
her  hand,  which  she  at  once  gave  Leah. 

"  This  is  for  you,  my  dear  Miss  Romilly,"  said 
the  bland  lady.  As  Leah  took  it,  peered  at  it, 
failed  to  decipher  its  superscription,  and  then 
darted  toward  the  lighted  hall  not  far  away,  Mrs. 
Preen  went  on  addressing  Mrs.  Romilly  and 
Rainsford. 

She  appeared  for  some  time  to  be  commiserating 
everything  and  everybody.  She  expressed  herself 
confident  that  the  whole  sad  affair  at  luncheon 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  89 

need  not  have  happened  if  only  her  poor  wits  had 
played  the  peacemaker  sooner  and  more  effec 
tually.  She  was  convinced  that  poor  Dr.  Pragley 
had  really  meant  nothing.  As  for  poor,  dear  Miss 
Romilly,  her  remarks  had  been  impulsive,  per 
haps,  but  not  really  ill-meaning.  And  then  poor 
Mrs.  Pragley  was  a  lady  of  very  high  principle, 
devoted  to  her  husband's  opinions  and  sometimes 
defending  them  too  sharply  when  supposing  them 
attacked,  but  at  heart  a  most  lovable  creature ; 
she  had  just  been  assured  of  this  by  poor,  sweet 
little  Mrs.  Dickerson,  who  had  been  a  friend  of  the 
Pragley  family  for  many  years.  And  then  poor, 
mild  Mr.  Yarde,  who  had  such  a  horror  of  the 
chills,  had  expressed  his  sincere  regret  at  the  oc 
currence,  as  also  those  two  poor,  inoffensive  Misses 
Semmes  had  done.  .  .  . 

Rainsford  found  his  heed  growing  less  and  less, 
long  before  this  compassionate  monologue  had 
shown  any  sign  of  cessation.  He  was  relieved 
when  Mrs.  Preen  ended,  and  withdrew  her  mas 
sive  person,  leaving  behind  it  a  kind  of  lackadaisi 
cally  humane  aroma. 

He  did  not  wish  to  discuss  with  Mrs.  Romilly 
this  ponderous  apologetic  discourse. 

"  The  poor  woman  is  in  a  most  bewildered  state 
of  mind,"  he  said.  "  You  see,  I  instinctively  bor- 


90  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

row  her  own  pathetic  adjective  when  speaking  of 
her.  But  do  not  let  us  speak  of  her,  —  or  of 
this  clique  that  has  got  into  her  house,  and 
wants  so  autocratically  to  regulate  its  moral  at 
mosphere." 

Mrs.  Romilly  looked  at  him  with  such  gentle 
fixity  in  the  deep  dusk  that  he  saw  the  smile,  joy 
less  yet  sweet,  which  edged  her  lips. 

"You  wish  to  speak  of  Leah,"  she  said,  "do  you 
not?" 

"  Yes ;  I  always  wish  to  speak  of  her." 

There  was  a  little  silence. 

"You  are  afraid?" 

"  I  am  afraid." 

"You  believe  that  we  have  committed  an  error 
in  bringing  her,  with  her  love  for  brilliant  super 
ficialities,  to  this  place,  whose  superficialities  are 
so  filled  with  color  and  glitter  ?  " 

"  Yes.     I  think  Newport  has  been  a  mistake." 

"Ah,  my  dear  Lawrence!"  (She  always  called 
him  by  his  first  name  when  they  were  alone  to 
gether).  "  My  doctor  did  not  think  that  when  he 
sent  me  here." 

"True,"  he  answered,  with  an  intonation  of 
apology,  "but  there  are  so  many  other  seaside 
places." 

"Where  Leah  might  have  been  kept  compara 
tively  hidden  ?  " 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  91 

"Yes.  We  are  very  candid  with  each  other. 
We  always  are.  It  is  best." 

A  breeze  floated  through  the  vines,  moving 
them  tenderly.  The  pulse  that  it  made  in  their 
leafage  was  just  audible  and  no  more.  But  the 
moon  had  begun  to  mount,  though  still  invisible, 
and  her  rich  yet  slow  splendor  was  blackening  the 
contours  of  trees  and  houses  in  the  quiet  streets 
outside,  while  turning  the  sky  above  into  a  golden 
haze. 

Mrs.  Romilly  laid  her  hand  on  Rainsford's  arm. 
"  Why  do  you  Jove  her  so  ?  "  she  murmured. 

"  Good  God ! "  he  said,  his  quiet  tones  lending 
the  words  a  fivefold  intensity.  "How  can  I 
help  it?" 

She  kept  her  hand  on  his  arm,  but  she  did  not 
answer  him.  He  understood  why  she  did  not. 
He  understood  that  it  was  because  she  had  no 
comfort  to  give  him. 

"  Did  you  tell  her  what  I  said  of  that  man,  Tre- 
maine  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Yes.    But  she  will  not  credit  it.    She  says"  — 

And  here  Mrs.  Romilly  paused.  Some  one  was 
rapidly  approaching  them.  The  next  instant  they 
both  recognized  the  light,  brisk  step. 

"  I  've  been  answering  such  a  kind,  charming 
note  !  "  exclaimed  Leah,  as  she  joined  them.  Her 


92  TINKLING   CYMBALS, 

voice  had  a  defiantly  merry  ring;  but  while  its 
merriment  seemed  genuine  enough,  its  defiance 
had  the  effect,  to  these  trained  and  loving  ears 
which  heard  it,  of  being  resolutely  forced. 

Neither  Mrs.  Romilly  nor  Rainsford  spoke,  and 
Leah  went  on  : 

"  It  was  a  note  from  Mr.  Tracy  Tremaine.  It 
enclosed  two  cards  for  the  Casino  ball,  and  it 
asked  me  to  drive  with  him  on  Monday  afternoon. 
I  have  sent  away  my  answer.  Mrs.  Preen  is  so 
obliging;  she  made  one  of  her  servants  take  it.  I 
thanked  Mr.  Tremaine  most  heartily  for  the  invi 
tations,  and  I  accepted  with  thanks  his  request  to 
take  me  driving." 

She  seated  herself  as  she  finished.  The  moon 
light  had  greatened  so  that  she  could  see  either 
face  quite  clearly.  A  silence  followed,  which 
Rainsford  broke. 

"  Tremaine  has  excellent  horses,"  he  said.  He 
brought  the  words  straight  from  the  inner  pang  of 
a  heartache.  The  unexpectedness  of  their  com 
monplace  almost  disarmed  Leah.  But  an  instant 
later  she  was  her  wilful  and  cruel  self  again. 

"  I  am  so  glad  to  hear  you  say  so  ! "  she  an 
swered.  "  I  shall  enjoy  my  drive  all  the  more  on 
that  account!" 


V. 

next  day  was  Sunday.  Leah  and  her 
mother  intentionally  breakfasted  a  little  later 
than  the  rest  of  the  household,  thus  avoiding  Dr. 
Pragley  and  his  adorers.  But  while  they  were 
busied  with  their  coffee  and  rolls  they  heard  the 
singing  of  a  hymn  in  the  adjacent  parlor,  and  soon 
afterward  Dr.  Pragley's  stentorian  voice  reached 
them  in  tones  that  made  it  plain  he  was  fervently 
sermonizing. 

Leah  listened.  She  could  catch  nearly  every 
word  quite  distinctly.  But  she  presently  left  off 
listening  and  resumed  her  breakfast. 

"Do  you  hear? "she  said.  "'Eternal  punish 
ment  '  —  4  the  vengeance  of  Heaven '  —  '  the  wrath 
of  the  Deity '  — '  the  anger  of  the  Most  High '  — 
oh,  how  horrible  to  love  a  God  whom  they  believe 
so  unmerciful !  and  how  insolent  to  treat  him  as  if 
they  could  really  explain  his  works  and  ways! 
Do  they  ever  reflect  upon  the  irreverence  of  their 
own  worship  ?  " 

"  Volumes  might  be  written  on  the  impiety  of 

93 


94  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

the  pious,"  said  Mrs.   Romilly,  almost  as  if  she 
were  speaking  to  herself. 

Leah  started.     "  Is  that  your  own,  mamma  ?  " 
"  No,  Leah.     A  greater  mind  than  mine  put  it 
into  language." 

Leah  looked  at  her  with  a  composed  fondness. 
"  Remember,"  she  said,  "  that  I  admit  few  minds  to 
be  greater  than  yours.  Whose  is  the  telling  little 
axiom  ?  " 

"  It  belongs  to  Herbert  Spencer,  my  dear." 
"  How  true  it  is !  "  Leah  commented,  sipping 
her  coffee,  while  the  resonant  voice  of  Dr.  Prag- 
ley  still  sounded.  "  Yes,  I  think  I  recollect  meet 
ing  it.  It  is  in  the  '  Lay  Sermons  and  Reviews/ 
is  n't  it?" 

"  Huxley  wrote  those,  Leah." 
"  Oh,  yes,  so  he  did.     I  remember  now.     But, 
good  gracious  !  why  are  not  all  these  great  modern 
thinkers  dead  ?     They  ought  to  be." 
"  Why  do  you  say  that,  my  child  ?  " 
"  Oh,  because  they  are  so  majestic,  most  of  them, 
that  they  deserve  the  final  majesty  of  death  itself. 
Even  some  of  my  nonsense  would  be  less  stupid  if 
I  should  die.     Death  would  give  it  a  kind  of  classic 
touch.     A  few  people  would  get  to  think  there  had 
really  been  something  in  it,  because  they  could 
never  hear  any  more  of  it.  ...  Yes,"  she  went 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  95 

on,  as  if  entertained  by  the  quaintness  of  her  own 
reflections,  "  I  suppose  that  if  Mrs.  Dickerson's 
repulsive  little  dog  should  suddenly  expire  in  a  fit 
we  might  find  ourselves  deciding  that  it  had  once 
or  twice  barked  melodiously.  .  .  .  Oh,  dear,  I  wish 
that  he  would  n't  do  it  quite  so  loud  !  " 

This  last  bit  of  irreverent  vernacular  referred  to 
the  continued  rolling  periods  of  Dr.  Pragley.  Leah 
and  her  mother  soon  afterward  finished  their  break 
fast  and  went  out  on  the  piazza.  Each  took  from  a 
table  in  the  hall  a  book  which  she  had  left  there 
since  the  preceding  afternoon.  That  corner  of  the 
piazza  which  they  had  already  fallen  into  the  habit 
of  occupying  was  very  near  a  large  window,  whose 
green  blinds,  at  present  shut,  could  be  opened  di 
rectly  upon  the  parlor  in  which  Dr.  Pragley  was 
still  making  himself  rhythmically  audible.  Leah 
fixed  her  eyes  upon  the  pages  of  her  book,  remain 
ing  silent  for  some  little  time.  Mrs.  Romilly  be 
gan  likewise  to  read.  But  presently,  as  she  turned 
a  leaf  of  her  own  volume,  something  slipped  flut 
tering  to  her  feet. 

Half  instinctively,  at  first,  Leah  stooped,  reach 
ing  forth  her  hand.  Securing  what  appeared  to  be 
several  small  sheets  of  printed  matter  stitched 
together,  she  cast  her  look  upon  the  print  itself. 
Then  she  uttered  a  faint,  abrupt  cry.  The  next 


96  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

instant  she  had  almost  snatched  away  Mrs.  Rom- 
illy's  book,  and  had  glanced  at  its  title. 

"  Oh,  mamma  !  this  is  outrageous  !  " 

"  What,  Leah  ?  " 

"  Do  you  see  ?  They  have  dared  to  put  a  tract 
in  your  book  !  It  is  called  '  A  Staff  for  the  Lame 
and  Sight  for  the  Blind.'  Is  not  this  too  much  ? 
Are  you  going  to  endure  it?  If  you  are,  I  am 
not !  " 

Leah  had  risen,  by  this  time.  Her  eyes  were 
flashing;  she  had  thrown  back  her  head,  while 
turning  her  face  with  a  look  of  accusative  anger 
straight  toward  the  near  apartment. 

Mrs.  Romilly  remained  seated.  "Leah,"  she 
said,  in  earnest  undertone,  "  I  can  endure  it  very 
well.  Pray,  do  not  excite  yourself  for  such  a 
trifle." 

"  Trifle  !  "  repeated  Leah,  ominously,  below  her 
breath.  But  a  moment  later  she  had  raised  one 
finger,  with  her  gaze  again  fixed  upon  the  neigh 
boring  window.  "  Listen  !  "  she  went  on,  with 
her  lips  pressing  together  and  her  face  turning 
pale. 

It  was  easy  to  listen.  The  voice  of  Dr.  Pragley 
had  seldom  been  more  vigorous  and  oratorio  than 
now,  outside  the  spacious  walls  of  his  own  famed 
tabernacle. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  97 

"  Yes,  my  friends,"  he  appealed,  "  let  us  pray  for 
the  perverted  soul  of  that  once  notorious  and  still 
unrepentant  woman  !  Let  us  not  judge  Elizabeth 
Cleeve  Romilly  —  that  is  not  our  province,  not  our 
prerogative.  But  let  us  implore  the  Holiness  which 
she  has  offended  to  confer  upon  her  the  mercy  of  a 
blessed  remorse,  even  though  it  may  be  a  tardy 
one  !  Let  us  implore  " 

It  is  possible  that  Dr.  Pragley  just  had  time  to 
finish  his  next  adjuring  sentence  before  Leah,  fired 
with  an  irresistible  purpose,  had  succeeded  in  open 
ing  the  broad  blinds  of  the  adjacent  window.  She 
burst  into  the  room  after  that  with  quite  enough 
force  to  make  her  entrance  a  prophecy  of  storm 
and  outcry  among  the  persons  gathered  in  mute 
and  rapt  absorption  about  their  fluent  pastor.  But 
if  they  all  expected  that  the  scene  of  yesterday 
was  to  be  tenfold  intensified  by  this  fearless  young 
antagonist,  Leah  now  disappointed  them  with  the 
extraordinary  equipoise  and  calm  of  her  demeanor. 

She  stood  quite  still,  at  a  distance  of  scarcely 
two  yards  from  the  window  by  which  she  had  so 
impetuously  entered.  Through  this  a  wide  shaft 
of  the  outer  daylight  had  shot  itself  across  the 
floor  of  the  big,  gloomed  chamber ;  she  stood  cen 
trally  within  the  scope  of  its  brightness,  which 
gave  to  her  dilated  figure,  her  incensed  eyes,  and 


98  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

the  pale  refinement  of  her  visage,  a  prominence 
otherwise  lost.  She  looked  at  Dr.  Pragley,  and, 
with  very  slight  hesitation,  spoke.  Her  voice  was 
rather  unwontedly  vibrant  than  loud.  Her  agita 
tion  and  ire  were  plain,  but  it  was  also  plain  that 
she  had  good  mastery  over  both. 

"I  had  made  up  my  mind,"  she  commenced,  "to 
give  you,  your  wife,  and  your  friends,  sir,  no 
cause  for  any  further  personal  rudeness  while 
we  remained  within  this  house.  I  did  this  at 
my  mother's  anxious  request,  and  not  because 
I  am  not  quite  able  at  all  times  to  hold  my 
own  with  those  who  annoy  me  by  verbal  sharp- 
shooting,  of  whatever  sort.  But  yon  have 
shown  me  this  morning  that  such  a  course 
is  quite  beyond  my  powers.  In  the  first  place, 
you,  or  some  of  your  clique,  impertinently  placed 
a  tract  in  mamma's  Herbert  Spencer.  That  was  a 
very  officious  and  objectionable  thing  to  do ;  but 
it  does  not  compare,  in  point  of  pure  insult,  with 
the  fact  of  your  daring  to  call  mamma  names,  un 
der  the  disguise  of  praying  for  her,  and  in  a  voice 
of  such  volume  that  you  are  certain  it  must 
reach  her  ears  and  my  own.  I  do  not  doubt,  sir, 
that  I  am  giving  you  a  very  needless  piece  of  in 
formation  when  I  tell  you  that  you  ought  to  be 
ashamed  of  yourself ;  for,  though  you  could  prob- 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  99 

ably  preach  for  hours  about  modesty  or  gentle 
manly  courtesy,  I  believe  that  both  are  as  foreign 
to  your  nature  as  the  demands  of  your  profession 
make  them  really  requisite  !  " 

Leah  half  turned  toward  the  window,  with  one 
of  her  most  queenly  gestures,  and  would  at  once 
have  quitted  the  room  had  not  Dr.  Pragley's  tones, 
full  of  sonorous  lamentation,  sounded  a  prompt 
response. 

He  had  thrust  his  right  hand  into  the  breast  of 
his  close-buttoned  coat ;  he  had  drooped  his  head, 
and  was  shaking  it  from  side  to  side  with  immeas 
urable  regret  in  the  oscillation. 

"  Oh,  most  unfortunate  young  scoffer ! "  he 
mourned.  "And  it  is  with  such  wanton  abuse  as 
this  that  you  return  our  patient,  Heaven-inspired 
efforts !  " 

Just  then  Leah  saw  the  light  of  the  window 
darkened,  and  looking  round,  she  perceived  the 
forms  of  her  mother  and  Lawrence  Rainsford 
crossing  the  threshold. 

Rainsford's  appearance  gave  her  a  sense  of  rein 
forcement,  so  to  speak,  but  it  played  havoc  with 
her  self-repression  as  well.  Here  was  somebody 
who  would  doubtless  offer  her  the  sympathy  that 
her  distress  merited,  —  who  would  aid  her  in  the 
defensive  stand  that  she  had  taken.  As  a  conse- 


100  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

quence  she  did  what  no  amount  of  dire  conten 
tion  on  the  part  of  the  Pragley  faction  could  have 
forced  her  to  do.  She  immediately  burst  into 
tears,  —  they  were  the  hot  tears  of  hysterical 
wrath  —  and  addressed  him  in  wailing  tones,  that 
had  lost  every  trace  of  their  former  continence. 

"Did  mamma  tell  you  what  these  dreadful 
people  have  been  doing?  As  if  that  old  shout 
ing  sensationalist  had  any  right  to  call  my  dear, 
good,  noble  mother  what  he  did !  I  should  n't 
have  minded  half  so  much  if  he  had  had  the  impu 
dence  to  pray  for  me.  But  mamma!  who  is  so 
much  above  him,  in  mind,  in  soul,  in  goodness, 
in  charity,  in  everything,  that  it  would  take  him 
his  whole  noisy,  wrangling  lifetime  even  to  —  to 
understand  her ! " 

The  final  sentence,  gathering  toward  its  pas 
sionate  rhetorical  climax,  was  flung  in  a  side 
long  manner  at  Dr.  Pragley.  And  then  Leah, 
like  all  with  whom  to  weep  is  rare,  saw  the  lu 
dicrous  side  of  her  perturbation,  and  hurried 
toward  her  mother,  hiding  her  face  on  the  latter's 
shoulder,  while  her  tears  changed  themselves  into 
almost  convulsive  sobs. 

"  Leah,"  she  heard  her  mother's  voice  say,  low 
and  sweet  in  its  firmness,  "  come  with  me,  child ; 
come  away  with  me."  .  .  . 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  101 

Nothing  was  quite  clear  to  Leah  after  that,  until 
she  and  Mrs.  Romilly  were  seated,  side  by  side,  on 
a  corner  of  the  piazza  opposite  to  the  one  which 
they  had  formerly  occupied.  Then  she  again  be 
came  aware  of  her  mother's  fervent,  persuasive 
voice. 

"  Leah,  do  not  take  it  so  much  to  heart.  Rains- 
ford  is  speaking  to  those  people  now.  He  has 
already  told  me  that  he  will  arrange  for  us  to 
leave  this  afternoon.  There  will  be  no  further  an 
noyance.  We  can  go  to  the  Aquidneck  House  in 
a  few  hours." 

They  did  go.  What  Rainsford  said  to  Dr. 
Pragley  and  his  c6terie  he  never  communicated 
afterward.  The  disappearance  was  managed  very 
quietly.  Mrs.  Preen  came  to  her  two  departing 
boarders  with  a  lachrymose  visage  and  a  mien  of 
genteel  matronly  despair.  Mrs.  Romilly  held  con 
verse  with  this  bereaved  lady,  and  made  the  inevi 
table  leave-taking  as  brief  as  possible.  Leah,  with 
her  eyes  dried  and  glittering  rather  hard,  main 
tained  a  sturdy  silence.  Rainsford  supervised  all 
the  petty  details  of  their  withdrawal.  By  about 
four  o'clock  that  same  day,  they  were  installed 
within  two  very  comfortable  rooms  at  the  Aquid 
neck. 

"  This  is  delightful  "  said  Leah,  who  was  now 


102  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

thoroughly  herself  again.  "  Why  should  we  not 
remain  here  until  we  leave  for  good  ?  " 

"  I  fear  it  is  too  expensive,"  said  her  mother. 
And  then  Mrs.  Romilly  named  the  price  which 
Rainsford  had  told  her  that  they  would  be 
charged. 

"Nonsense,  mamma  !  "  exclaimed  Leah.  "Why 
talk  as  if  we  were  paupers  ?  When  have  we  spent 
our  full  income  ?  "  She  named  the  amount  of 
money  which  they  had  decided  to  be  their  limit  of 
expenditure  while  in  Newport.  "Besides,"  she 
went  on,  "  there  are  those  few  extra  bonds  which 
you  wished  to  sell  just  before  we  came  here.  I 
fancy  that  we  shall  like  the  Aquidneck.  It  has  a 
sort  of  homelike  look."  Here  she  gave  a  decided 
memorial  shudder.  "Anything"  she  went  on, 
"would  be  better  than  that  wretched  place  of 
Mrs.  Preen's." 

A  little  later  she  said,  as  if  suddenly  recol 
lecting  :  "  Oh,  by  the  way,  now  that  I  am  here  I 
must  write  to  Mr.  Tremaine.  I  mean  about  to 
morrow's  drive,  you  know, — that  my  address  is 
changed." 

Mrs.  Romilly  made  no  answer,  but  Leah  wrote 
a  brief  note,  and  when  she  went  downstairs  with 
her  mother  she  paused  at  the  desk  and  gave  her 
directed  envelope  to  the  clerk,  saying  that  she 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  103 

wanted  it  sent  immediately.  The  clerk,  who 
chanced  to  be  a  functionary  of  effusive  politeness, 
assured  her  that  the  missive  should  be  dispatched 
at  once,  and  added  that  Mr.  Tremaine  lived  only 
a  short  distance  away,  in  the  same  street.  "  It 's 
the  old  Tremaine  house,  miss,"  he  continued, 
answering  affably  Leah's  surprised  look.  "  Nearly 
everybody  in  Newport  knows  it." 

Leah  afterward  told  her  mother  of  their  near 
ness  to  her  proposed  escort  of  the  morrow.  Mrs. 
Romilly  scarcely  responded  at  all ;  but  when, 
that  same  evening,  Rainsford  appeared,  meeting 
her  in  the  lower  hall  of  the  hotel,  some  temporary 
absence  of  Leah  gave  her  the  opportunity  to  tell 
him  both  of  the  note  sent  and  of  the  neighboring 
residence. 

"  I  forgot  he  was  so  near,"  murmured  Rainsford, 
as  if  to  himself.  "  She  is  contented  here  ? "  he 
went  on,  in  much  less  preoccupied  tones.  "She 
likes  it?" 

"She  wants  to  stop  here  permanently.  The 
hotel  pleases  her." 

"  It  is  much  less  public  and  populous  than  the 
Ocean  House,"  said  Rainsford. 

Leah  presently  made  her  appearance.  For  a 
reason  that  both  she  and  Rainsford  understood, 
though  it  was  concealed  with  not  a  little  tact, 


104  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

Mrs.  Romilly  soon  left  them.  They  walked  out 
together  on  the  piazza,  so  much  broader  and 
ampler  than  Mrs.  Preen's. 

"  Your  mother  says  you  like  it  here,"  ventured 
Rainsford. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Leah,  positively.  "  Very  much. 
We  shall  remain.  It  is  decided." 

"  Will  you  sit  down,  or  shall  we  walk  ?  "  Rains- 
ford  had  paused  beside  two  chairs  while  he  thus 
spoke. 

Leah  gave  a  little  laugh.  "  I  shall  stand,"  she 
replied.  "But  only  for  a  short  time.  I  am  tired. 
I  want  to  go  upstairs.  You  know  what  has  tired 
me."  She  turned  her  head  away  from  his  watch 
ful  face  while  she  spoke,  and  looked  in  at  the  wide 
illumined  hall. 

A  few  people  were  scattered  about  in  seated 
groups,  here  and  there.  But  he  and  she  were  com 
paratively  isolated  where  they  now  stood. 

A  hundred  things  that  he  might  say  swept 
through  Rainsford's  mind.  But  he  hit  only  upon 
one. 

"  Leah,"  he  began,  looking  at  her  intently  in  the 
dusk,  "  is  there  not  something  that  you  are  willing 
to  tell  me?" 

Her  eyes  seemed  to  gaze  across  his  shoulder 
out  into  the  dark  street  beyond.  "I  want  to 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  105 

thank  you  so  very  much,"  she  said,  with  an  evasive 
frankness,  "  for  having  got  us  away  from  that 
shocking  place." 

"  I  do  not  mean  that,"  he  faltered  helplessly. 

"  Well,"  she  returned,  with  a  ring  of  resignation 
in  her  voice  that  would  have  been  comic  at  an 
other  time,  "  what  do  you  mean,  please  ?  " 

"Have  you  not  guessed,  Leah?"  His  tones 
deepened,  and  seemed  to  throb  a  little.  "  I  mean 
that  I  want  you  to  tell  me  you  will  be  my  wife." 

There  was  a  silence,  during  which  they  both 
heard  the  sighing  of  the  gloomy  trees  on  the  near 
lawn. 

"For  the  last  time,  I  hope,"  Leah  said,  meas- 
uredly,  but  by  no  means  coldly,  <c  I  must  answer 
you  that  this  is  not  possible." 

"Not  possible,"  he  said,  repeating  the  words, 
yet  scarcely  knowing  that  he  did  so.  It  was 
almost  as  if  a  condemned  prisoner  had  automati 
cally  murmured  over  an  adverse  sentence  just  pro 
nounced. 

"  It  is  final  —  quite  final,"  Leah  went  on.  "But 
we  must  always  be  good  friends.  In  time  you  will 
not  care  ;  at  least,  I  sincerely  hope  not.  You  will 
marry  some  charming  girl,  —  and  you  will  love  her 
very  much.  You  will  tell  me  all  about  her,  and 
we  will  laugh  together  over  the  past." 


106  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

She  laid  her  hand,  very  lightly,  on  his  arm.  All 
her  former  hard  brilliancy  had  vanished ;  she  had 
grown  very  womanly  and  winning ;  you  would  not 
have  believed  her  guilty  of  the  least  rigor,  the  least 
cruelty.  Her  eyes,  as  they  dwelt  on  RainsforcTs 
face,  were  full  of  a  rich,  humid  light. 

"  I  think  it  better,"  he  said,  with  the  effect  of 
forcing  speech  between  shut  teeth,  "  that  we  should 
never  see  each  other  again  after  to-night." 

"No,  no,"  she  objected.  She  still  touched  his 
arm.  There  was  a  flash  of  the  old  imperiousness 
in  her  veto,  softly  as  it  was  given ;  and  yet  this 
was  mixed  with  a  strange,  uncharacteristic  candor. 
"  I  like  you  to  like  me.  I  don't  want  you  to  de 
sert  me  because  I  care  for  you  less  than  you  care 
for  me.  I  promise  always  to  be  your  friend. 
Friendship  has  its  demands,  its  conditions,  its  obli 
gations.  You  arid  I  are  to  be  friends  — no,  I  mean 
you,  myself,  and  mamma.  There;  it  is  settled. 
You  are  not  to  go  away  permanently.  I  cannot 
spare  you.  As  I  said,  it  will  all  end  in  time,  — 
you  know  to  what  I  refer.  I  hope  she  will  be 
charming  and  high-bred.  If  so,  I  shall  be  very 
fond  of  her.  Look,  there  is  mamma  coining. 
Act  nicely."  She  withdrew  her  hand  from  his 
arm  at  this  point.  "Act  as  if  everything  had 
not  been  arranged,  once  and  for  all."  Just  at 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  107 

this  point  her  voice,  before  ending,  hardened  a 
little.  .  .  . 

The  weather  was  full  of  moderate  breezes  and 
the  best  sunshine  on  the  following  day.  Leah 
took  a  short  walk  with  her  mother  in  the  morning, 
and  passed  a  certain  spacious,  attractive  dwelling, 
which  she  informed  her  companion  was  the  Tre- 
maine  homestead.  Mrs.  Romilly  did  not  ask  her 
how  she  had  obtained  this  knowledge.  But  the 
fact  that  Leah  had  secured  the  exact  information 
was  not  without  its  saddening  result. 

The  Aquidneck  House  charmed  Leah.  Before 
mid-day  she  had  drifted  into  conversation  with  a 
certain  lady  whose  appearance  pleased  her.  The 
name  of  this  lady  was  Mrs.  Forbes,  and  her  re 
markable  information  on  the  subject  of  Newport 
and  Newport  doings  afforded  Leah  the  most  potent 
entertainment.  She  insisted  that  her  mother 
should  share  her  new  acquaintance,  though  Mrs. 
Romilly,  who  found  the  lady  in  question  some 
what  vapid  and  unsatisfactory,  did  not  long  remain 
in  Mrs.  Forbes's  company. 

"  I  think  mamma  is  not  very  well  to-day,"  said 
Leah,  when  her  mother  had  made  an  excuse  to 
withdraw  from  the  large,  shady,  pleasant  sitting- 
room  in  which  the  introduction  had  occurred. 
"She  came  here  for  her  health,  you  know.  You 


108  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

must  find  it  a  decided  change  from  Peoria,  don't 
you?  That  is  so  far  away — I  mean  it  looks  so  on 
the  map.  Isn't  it  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  or 
very  near  them  ?  " 

"  Oh  dear,  no  !  "  said  Mrs.  Forbes.  She  gave  a 
blithe  laugh.  "  You  Eastern  people  are  always 
supposing  that  we  Western  ones  come  from  the 
most  unearthly  places.  But  don't  let  us  talk  of 
Peoria.  You  can  put  it  as  far  west  on  the  map  as 
you  please.  I'm  almost  sorry  that  I  told  you  I 
was  born  and  raised  there.  I  've  been  abroad  ever 
so  long  since  I  saw  it.  I  was  married  abroad.  I 
married  an  Englishman." 

"  Yes?"  said  Leah,  with  interrogative  suavity. 

She  liked  everything  about  Mrs.  Forbes  except 
her  voice.  The  lady  was  plump,  pretty,  and  of 
excellent  style  in  the  way  of  attire.  She  had  a 
tender  pink-and-white  complexion,  a  little,  reced 
ing,  piquant  nose,  and  a  mouth  as  small  and  sweet 
as  a  crumpled  red  flower.  But  her  voice,  her  pro 
nunciation,  struck  Leah  as  shockingly  nasal.  It 
was  so  unmelodious,  so  coarse,  in  fact,  that  it  con 
trasted  most  dissonantly  with  the  agreeable  per 
sonnel  to  which  it  belonged. 

"  Yes,  my  husband  is  an  Englishman,"  Mrs. 
Forbes  continued.  "  We  lived  in  England  and 
France  for  nearly  seven  years  after  we  were  mar- 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  109 

ried.  Then  something  happened  with  regard  to 
my  property ;  I  have  a  great  deal  of  property  in 
the  West.  It  was  this  trouble  that  brought  us  on 
here,  but  we  find  that  there  has  been  a  sort  of 
false  alarm,  and  we  shall  probably  stop  in  Newport 
until  the  end  of  the  season.  Poor  pa  died  in  Peo- 
ria  three  years  ago ;  he  had  been  with  me  in  Europe 
when  I  was  married,  but  afterward  he  had  gone 
back.  He  died  quite  suddenly ;  it  was  a  dreadful 
blow.  Bertie  thought  it  best  that  I  should  n't  go 
back  right  away.  He  said  it  would  be  different  if 
mother  was  living.  And  I  am  the  only  child. 
By  4  Bertie '  I  mean  my  husband,  of  course.  His 
full  name  is  Bertram  Chetwynde  Forbes.  He  is 
the  first  cousin  of  the  Marquis  of  Chetwynde,  you 
know." 

This  latter  statement  was  made  with  a  slight 
straightening  of  the  jaunty  little  body,  as  though 
it  concerned  a  question  of  the  most  notable  im 
port. 

"  Oh,"  said  Leah,  "  then  you  are  one  of  the 
Americans  who  have  married  among  the  English 
aristocracy  ?  I  have  often  heard  about  those  kinds 
of  marriages." 

Mrs.  Forbes  nodded  her  head  with  more  sociabil 
ity  than  seemed  quite  the  proper  accompaniment 
of  a  lady  in  such  close  matrimonial  nearness  to  a 
marquisate. 


110  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"Yes,"  she  said.  And  then,  like  a  little  oft- 
repeated  formula,  she  murmured :  "  Bertie  is  first 
cousin  to  the  Marquis  of  Chetwynde." 

Leah  did  not  wish  to  be  too  interrogative  on  so 
short  an  acquaintance.  She  felt  very  curious, 
however,  regarding  Mrs.  Forbes,  but  contented 
herself,  for  the  present,  with  saying: 

"  You  go  out  a  great  deal  into  society  here, 
don't  you?" 

"No,"  said  Mrs.  Forbes,  "I  don't.  Bertie 
does,  though."  And  here  she  noticeably  bright 
ened. 

"  Your  husband  goes  without  you  ?  "  murmured 
Leah.  ..."  You  have  told  me  so  much  about  the 
manners  and  customs  of  Newport  that  I  supposed 
you  had  been  a  good  deal  among  the  great  peo 
ple." 

Mrs.  Forbes  laughed.  Her  laugh,  like  her  voice, 
was  extremely  harsh.  She  was  so  modishly  and 
brightly  robed  that  she  reminded  Leah,  while 
listening,  of  those  splendid-plumed  tropical  par 
rots  which  satirize  their  feathery  loveliness  by 
the  utterance  of  hoarse  screams. 

"  Oh,  Bertie  describes  it  all,"  Mrs.  Forbes  now 
said.  "He  goes  everywhere.  He  thinks  it  best 
that  I  shouldn't  be  gay.  There  are  the  two  chil 
dren,  you  know,  Enid  and  Gwendolen.  Don't  you 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  Ill 

think  that  those  are  pretty  names  ?  We  think  so. 
Enid  is  named  after  Bertie's  sister,  the  Countess 
of  Breadalbane,  and  Gwendolen  is  named  after 
his  mother,  who  was  the  third  daughter  of  Lord 
George  Maskelyne." 

Leah  recalled  two  pale,  sickly  children,  who  bore 
not  the  slightest  resemblance  to  her  new  rotund, 
healthful-looking  friend,  and  who  had  clamored 
peevishly  round  Mrs.  Forbes  on  the  piazza  about 
an  hour  ago,  until  drawn  away  by  a  gaunt  French 
bonne. 

"  They  are  both  quite  delicate,"  continued  the 
mother  of  Enid  and  Gwendolen.  •"  They  are  not 
at  all  like  Bertie  and  me.  Bertie  says  that  they 
require  all  my  care.  I  suppose  he  is  right,  of 
course.  But  then  there  are  the  two  French  nurses, 
you  know,  Aline  and  Franchise.  Still,  I  dare  say 
a  mother  should  be  motherly  and  domestic." 

Leah  had  by  this  time  acquired  a  pronounced 
dislike  of  "  Bertie."  Her  drive  with  Tracy  Tre- 
maine  was  to  take  place  at  four  o'clock,  and  very 
punctually  at  that  hour  a  dog-cart,  drawn  by  two 
heavy,  stylish  bays,  drove  up  to  the  door  of  the 
Aquidneck.  Leah,  attired  simply,  but  with  a  taste 
that  well  became  her  slender  figure  and  lovely 
face,  was  soon  ensconced  at  Tremaine's  side. 
Mrs.  Romilly  saw  the  departure  from  an  upper 


112  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

window;  she  somehow  chose  not  to  descend  and 
greet  Leah's  new  escort. 

"  It  was  so  good  of  you  to  come  with  me," 
Tremaine  said,  while  the  bays  were  starting  and 
the  footman  was  leaping  into  his  seat  behind. 
"I  was  so  afraid  that  you  might  refuse.  Your 
little  mention  of  a  row  at  your  other  place  has 
made  me  immensely  curious.  Do  pray  tell  me  all 
about  it." 

Leah  began  her  narration.  She  gave  it  with 
certain  touches  of  her  old  sarcastic  humor  that 
caused  Tremaine  more  than  one  burst  of  hearty 
merriment.  And,  meanwhile,  she  noticed  the 
faultless  nicety  of  his  toilette,  in  which,  from  the 
shining  boot  to  the  high  drab  hat,  there  was  care 
without  finicality,  and  elegance  without  foppery. 
He  seemed  to  Leah  a  very  finished  human  expres 
sion  ;  he  satisfied  her  in  every  way  where  Rains- 
ford  had  fallen  short  of  satisfying  her.  Nor  was 
she  at  all  sure  that  this  pleasure  was  not  one  of 
mental  as  well  as  physical  approval.  He  was  not 
very  often  in  earnest,  but  then  Rainsford  was 
always  too  much  in  earnest.  He  had  no  superior 
views  of  life,  but  then  Rainsford's  views  were  in 
a  manner  superior  to  the  maintenance  of  agreeable 
permanent  intercourse.  There  lay  Rainsford's 
trouble  in  the  eyes  of  Leah  — he  was  too  extraor- 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  113 

clinary,  too  exceptional,  without  in  the  least  pre 
tending  to  be  so.  But  Tremaine,  on  the  other 
hand,  though  quite  as  exempt  from  pretensions, 
had  an  art  of  putting  things,  a  manner  of  living, 
a  grace  and  taste  of  deportment,  that  were  all 
delightfully  on  a  level  with  the  everyday  usages, 
pastimes,  or  occupations.  Leah  felt  an  exhilarated 
relief  in  his  society.  She  could  not  help  compar 
ing  the  two  men ;  they  were  the  only  two  men 
who  had  ever  wakened  in  her  the  slightest  definite 
regard.  The  one  whom  she  knew  best  was  forever 
commanding  her  respect ;  the  other  represented  a 
cheerful  relaxation  from  this  silent  but  continuous 
levy.  Not  that  she  failed  in  respect  for  the  latter, 
but  in  him  the  moral  tribute  did  not  incessantly 
thrust  itself  forward  with  wearying  prominence. 
Tremaine  was  an  unpedestaled  figure,  so  to  speak ; 
there  was  nothing  august  about  him ;  one's  sight 
need  not  be  lifted  too  high  to  span  his  dimensions. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  neither  had  it  to  be  in  the 
least  lowered.  Leah  felt  contentedly  certain  on 
this  last-named  point,  notwithstanding  what  she 
had  recently  heard  with  regard  to  Mrs.  Abbott 
Fortescue. 

"  That  Pragley  fellow  must  be  the  most  shock 
ing  old  duffer,"  said  Tremaine,  when  she  had  fin 
ished  her  piquant  recital.  "  It 's  not  necessary,  I 


114  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

suppose,  for  me  to  tell  you  that  I  think  your  con 
duct  was  entirely  proper." 

But  Leah  soon  forgot  her  grievance.  They  had 
reached  Bellevue  Avenue,  and  had  begun  to  feel 
the  fresh  breath  of  the  near  sea. 

"It  is  enchanting,"  she  said,  looking  almost 
gleefully  to  left  and  right.  "This,  then,  is  the 
real  Newport.  I  see  it  at  last !  I  have  so  wanted 
to  see  it ! " 


VI. 

n~THE  abodes  had  lost  that  close-neighboring 
aspect  which  marked  them  in  the  older  part 
of  the  town  just  left.  They  rose  on  either  hand, 
in  countless  varying  structural  designs.  A  few — 
and  these  were  quite  occasional — had  the  smartly- 
assertive  air  of  the  American  villa;  but  by  far  the 
majority  of  them  were  either  noble  and  stately,  or 
rustically  simple  in  a  way  that  left  it  plain  as  to 
the  generous  means  of  their  owners  and  lessees. 
The  popular  name  of  "  cottages  "  was  rarely  appli 
cable.  They  were  mostly  mansions  of  grand  and 
massive  proportions.  Their  lawns  lacked  the  am 
plitude  usually  found  engirding  similar  English 
homes,  but  many  of  them,  in  spite  of  such  disad 
vantage,  satisfied  the  gaze  with  a  beautiful  mano 
rial  majesty. 

"I  suppose  the  great  people  live  here,"  said 
Leah,  giving  full  play  to  a  childish  admiration. 

Tremaine  laughed. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  he  replied.     "  Here  are  to  be  found 
our  American  dukes  and  duchesses." 

115 


116  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"And  are  these  people,  so  constantly  driving 
past  us,  to  so  many  of  whom  you  bow,"  she  ques 
tioned,  "  all  what  is  called  the  cream  of  Newport 
society  ?  " 

Tremaine  gave  a  much  louder  laugh. 

"Oh,  what  a  delicious  phrase  for  this  awful 
rabble  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Come,  now,  Miss  Rom- 
illy,  I  am  sure  you  got  that  straight  from  the 
newspapers." 

Leah  was  too  preoccupied  to  dream  of  being 
offended. 

"Why  do  you  call  it  a  rabble?"  she  said,  as 
carriage  after  carriage,  in  every  conceivable  shape, 
from  the  monumental  four-horse  drag  to  the  small 
two-wheeled  tilted  cart,  swept  multitudinously 
past  them.  "  I  think  everything  is  so  prosperous, 
so  glittering,  so  undemocratic !  It  all  seems  to 
me  like  a  region  in  which  poverty  is  quite  un 
known.  As  we  drive  along  now  we  seem  to  be  in 
a  kind  of  gentlemanly  and  ladylike  paradise." 

"Oh,  there  is  money  enough,  if  you  mean 
that,"  Tremaine  answered,  in  his  loitering,  half- 
indifferent  way.  "But  you  mustn't  judge  of  this 
Belle vue  Avenue  parade  by  outside  appearances. 
A  few  years  ago  it  was  quite  another  matter. 
Then  Newport  was  reall}*  a  special  and  peculiar 
place.  Now  it  is  overrun  by  people  from  heaven 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  117 

knows  where.  We  used  to  have  from  thirty  to 
forty  families  here,  who  all  knew  each  other  and 
entertained  each  other.  It  was  a  blessed  refuge, 
then,  from  such  rowdy  spots  as  Saratoga  and  Nar- 
ragansett.  But  something  has  changed  all  that 
of  late.  There  are  various  explanations  given ; 
for  my  part,  I  am  convinced  that  only  one  is  to  be 
credited.  I  mean  that  wretched  Casino." 

"  Oh,  don't  call  it  wretched ! "  dissented  Leah. 
"  It  is  so  lovely !  " 

"  Yes,  that  is  what  everyone  said  when  it  was 
first  built.  But  I  consider  that  it  has  ruined 
Newport.  It  has  done  away  with  all  the  old 
quiet,  conservative  charm  of  the  place.  It  has 
made  Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry  flock  here  with  their 
wives,  daughters,  and  sons.  It  has  destroyed  all 
our  atmosphere.  The  old  residents  can't  be  rude 
to  people  who  will  get  introduced  to  them  at  the 
Casino,  and  will  bombard  them  with  hospitalities 
afterward.  They  are  forced  to  make  some  return. 
As  a  consequence,  it  has  become  customary  to  give 
great  dinners  at  the  Casino  restaurant  —  could 
anything  be  better  evidence  than  that  of  the 
lowered  tone  of  the  place?  All  the  fine,  select 
atmosphere  of  Newport  has  gone.  The  really 
swell  women  don't  drop-  in  upon  each  other  of  a 
morning  as  they  used  to  do ;  that  charming  mix- 


118  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

ture  of  home  life  and  fashionable  life,  —  the  lady's 
morning  visit,  once  so  distinctive  a  feature  here, — 
lias  almost  completely  vanished;  everybody  sees 
everybody  else,  nowadays,  at  the  Casino.  Then, 
again,  if  somebody  like  Mrs.  Chichester,  of  New 
York,  or  Mrs.  Parkinson,  of  Boston,  wants  to 
throw  open  her  palace  of  a  house  and  give  a  ball 
to  guests  whom  she  knows  and  has  known  for 
years  and  whom  she  desires  to  compliment  by  a 
superb  piece  of  real  civility,  she  straightway 
trembles  in  her  boots,  poor  woman,  at  the  pros 
pect  of  having  about  two  hundred  extra  invita 
tions  asked  for  the  moment  her  regular  cards  have 
been  issued.  Now,l  maintain  that  the  Casino  is 
responsible  for  this  new  abomination.  It  has 
turned  Newport  into  a  watering-place.  It  never 
was  one  before;  they  used  to  call  it  so,  but  it 
never  was.  People  would  go  to  the  Ocean  House, 
and  stay  there  a  week,  and  go  away  bored,  who 
now  remain  to  struggle  and  push  and  elbow 
themselves  right  into  cottage  society.  For  that 
matter,  there  is  no  cottage  society  any  longer; 
it  has  become  a  mere  memory." 

Leah  was  so  interested  by  this  glimpse  into  an 
unknown  world,  that  she  never  gave  the  least 
egotistic  thought  to  her  own  isolation  and  aloof 
ness  from  it.  She  showed,  oo  the  contrary,  her 


TINKLING  CYMBALS.  119 

relish  of  Tremaine's  dilettante  complaints  by  a 
laugh  that  pealed  out  sweet  and  silvery  in  the 
crisp  marine  air. 

"Truly,"  she  said,  "it's  like  the  wail  over 
Babylon,  or  some  great  ruined  city  of  the  past. 
If  there  were  only  more  willow-trees  in  Newport, 
how  pretty  it  would  be  for  all  you  old  cottage- 
people,  as  you  call  yourselves,  to  decorate  them 
with  croquet-mallets  and  lawn-tennis  bats,  just  as 
the  poor  Israelites  hung  up  their  harps,  you 
know ! " 

"An  excellent  idea,"  he  said,  echoing  her  laugh. 
"  I  should  like  to  commemorate  our  downfall  in 
precisely  some  such  picturesque  way." 

But  now  Leah  spoke  in  decidedly  altered  tones. 
She  had  remembered  at  last  what  it  was  so  like 
her  to  remember,  sooner  or  later. 

"  By-the-bye,"  she  said,  very  seriously,  and  with 
a  little  heightening  of  her  delicate  head,  "  I  sup 
pose  it  has  not  struck  you  that  /might  be  ranked 
among  your  condemned  pushers  and  struggiers, 
has  it  ?  " 

He  replied  instantly,  and  with  apparent  shocked 
astonishment.  If  counterfeited,  nothing  could  be 
more  deft. 

"  Miss  Romilly,  is  it  possible  that  you  are  not 
joking  ?  " 


120  TINKLING  CYMBALS. 

Leah  felt  the  balm  at  once  touch  her  hurt, 
which,  after  all,  was  a  mere  scratch. 

"Well,"  she  admitted,  with  her  grand,  cool  air, 
•"it  is  true  that  you  sought  an  introduction  to  me." 

"  I  was  compelled  to  seek  one." 

"Compelled?" 

"  Assuredly.     You  understand,  of  course." 

"But  these  very  exclusive  personages,"  she 
went  on,  "whom  I  don't  know,  and  whom  you 
know  that  I  don't  know  —  what  will  they  say 
when  they  see  us  together?" 

He  leaned  his  face  for  a  few  brief  seconds  near 
to  her  own.  The  bays  were  so  well  broken  as 
not  to  require  great  vigilance. 

"  Ah,  what  would  they  say,"  he  murmured,  "  if 
you  should  choose  to  meet  and  mingle  with 
them  ?  " 

" I  am  sure  I  can't  tell.     Can  you? " 

"Quite  accurately,  I  think.  They  would  say 
that,  with  all  their  exclusive  tendencies,  they  had 
never  denied  their  courtesy  to  beauty,  wit,  and 
refinement,  when  those  three  gifts  met  notably  in 
the  person  of  one  woman." 

Leah  thought  this,  as  it  was  spoken,  —  we  might 
also  add,  as  it  was  looked,  —  thoroughly  delightful. 
It  so  entirely  banished  her  resentment  that  when, 
a  little  later,  Tremaine  asked  her  whether  she 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  121 

would  prefer  to  visit  the  polo-grounds  or  to  quit 
the  wagon  and  walk  a  little  way  along  the  Cliffs, 
she  readily  answered : 

"  I  will  leave  the  preference  to  you.  Whichever 
you  choose  I  will  choose." 

Her  mien  of  condescension,  blended  with  her 
unaffected  ease  and  her  brilliant  beauty,  affected 
him  very  pleasurably. 

"  Let  us  go  to  the  Cliffs,"  he  said,  thinking  how 
he  should  like  to  walk  at  her  side  for  a  little 
while. 

When  they  reached  the  end  of  Belle vue  Avenue, 
he  signed  to  the  groom  behind  him,  after  stopping 
his  horses.  The  groom  sprang  out  and  held  their 
heads,  while  he  assisted  Leah  to  alight. 

They  were  presently  strolling  close  to  the  edge 
of  the  sea,  along  a  hard,  smooth  path,  beneath 
which  sloped  in  rugged,  rocky  acclivity  the  ex 
treme  ocean-limit.  On  their  left  was  a  seemingly 
interminable  line  of  palatial  edifices ;  on  their 
right  the  sea  broke,  with  its  immemorial  music 
and  its  vast,  pure  distances  of  lustrous  color. 
But  sheer  down  from  the  porticoes  and  verandas 
of  the  adjacent  dwellings,  directly  to  the  verge  of 
old  Atlantic  itself,  ran  a  carpeting  of  green  lawn, 
as  sleek  and  even  as  a  leopard's  fur.  It  met  the 
grim  top  of  the  precipitous  headland  and  there 


122  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

ended  with  an  abruptness  that  was  like  a  happy 
truce  between  nature  and  art.  The  ocean  seemed 
to  have  grumblingly  granted  this  peaceful  com 
promise  ;  it  washed  the  granite  bases,  many  feet 
below,  with  a  sort  of  leonine  submission.  Perfect 
culture  never  before  blent  so  harmoniously  with  un 
tamed  wildness.  The  residences  themselves  were 
those  past  which  Tremaine  and  Leah  had  already 
driven ;  but  seen  on  this,  their  shoreward  side, 
they  acquired  a  new  meaning,  a  new  vantage. 
Their  encompassing  lawns  not  only  flowed  toward 
the  coast,  but  flowed  into  each  other  with  an 
untrammeled  pastoral  freedom.  You  felt,  as  you 
looked  into  their  vague  doorways,  their  curtained 
casements,  that  the  salt,  invigorating  breeze 
wandered  at  will  through  each  luxurious  in 
terior. 

"It  is  something  that  I  have  never  seen  before," 
said  Leah,  with  a  peculiar  thoughtful  enthusiasm, 
as  they  moved  onward  for  hundreds  of  yards  and 
found  always  the  same  sweep  of  emerald  grass 
touch  the  austere  gray  rock  on  one  hand,  and  the 
same  line  of  imposing  abodes  gleam  to  them  on 
the  other.  "  It  charms  me,  delights  me,  and  yet 
it  has  a  certain  cruelty." 

"  Cruelty  ?  "  repeated  her  companion. 

"  Yes.     Do  you  know,  it  makes  me  think  of  the 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  123 

miserable  people  who  are  starving  in  crowded 
cities  not  far  from  here.  I  don't  know  what  puts 
such  a  thought  into  my  head  at  such  a  time ;  but 
it  has  come ;  I  can't  help  having  it." 

No  one  would  have  called  Leah  cold  or  haughty 
while  she  thus  spoke.  Tremaine  looked  at  her 
in  surprise. 

"  Are  you  so  humanitarian,  so  philosophic  ?  "  he 
asked. 

She  suddenly  frowned. 

"  Yes ;  if  I  choose  to  be,"  she  said,  annoyedly. 
"  There  is  a  cruelty  of  luxury  about  these  cliffs, 
as  you  call  them.  They  are  too  lovely.  I  mean 
that  while  so  many  people  are  shut  in  hot  garrets, 
not  knowing  where  they  shall  get  their  next  crust, 
all  this  pomp  and  comfort  seems  like  an  injustice, — 
an  outrage  ! " 

She  was  instinctively  thinking  the  thoughts 
that  she  knew  her  mother  would  have  had  if  they 
had  come  here  together.  But,  more  than  this,  she 
was  thinking  the  same  thoughts  because  of  hidden 
depth  in  her  strange,  capricious  nature  that  even 
her  mother  had  not  possessed  the  skill  or  acumen 
to  fathom. 

Tremaine  disliked  her  unforeseen  mood,  but  in 
most  moods  she  had  begun  so  potently  to  please 
him  that  he  chose,  with  a  sure  tact,  to  thwart  and 
alter  this  one. 


124  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"  You  say  truly  that  you  have  never  seen  any 
thing  like  it  before,"  he  softly  ventured.  "  Neither 
has  anybody,  I  think.  Not  long  ago  I  walked 
this  same  path  with  —  well,  I  can't  dream  of  pro 
nouncing  his  name ;  he  is  the  Russian  Minister, 
and  a  very  good  fellow.  He  has  seen  three- 
quarters,  at  least,  of  the  Inhabited  sphere.  I 
asked  him  if  he  had  ever  seen  anything  like  our 
Newport  cliffs  before,  and  it  was  very  amusing  to 
watch  him,  with  his  encumbering  foreign  preju 
dices,  muse  and  meditate  until  he  had  answered 
me,  in  his  halting,  precarious  English,  that  there 
was  a  summer  resort  on  the  borders  of  the  Crimea 
which  reminded  him  of  our  present  ramble,  and 
yet  was  actually  far  less  fine.  I  suspect,  myself, 
that  it  can't  hold  a  candle  to  this,  wherever  and 
whatever  it  is.  I  've  knocked  round  a  great  lot, 
myself,  but  I  have  met  only  one  Newport  —  that 
is,  from  this  one  point  de  vue  of  external  supe 
riority." 

After  a  little  more  strolling  they  retraced  their 
steps  toward  the  attendant  vehicle.  The  sun  had 
now  dropped  to  its  partial  extinction,  and  the  sea, 
under  its  level  rays,  had  begun  to  take  darker 
wrinkles  upon  a  surface  of  deepened  blue.  Along 
its  horizon  the  sky  showed  a  ring  of  that  faint 
rosy  haze  which  betokens  the  ripeness  of  summer, 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  125 

and  tells  that  the  sharp  autumn  evening  is  not 
far  away.  As  they  drove  back  through  the 
delicious  early  dusk,  Leah  said,  "  Are  there  many 
English  people  here  at  present  ?  " 

"  Yes,  a  few." 

"  Great  swells  ? "  she  questioned ;  and  then 
laughingly  added,  "  As  you  would  say." 

"  Not  many  great  swells  ;  no."  He  mentioned 
the  name  of  one  British  nobleman,  and  then 
paused,  as  if  he  could  think  of  no  one  relatively 
distinguished. 

"  Do  you  know  a  Mr.  Forbes?  "  asked  Leah. 

He  turned  quickly,  with  a  smile :  "  Bertie 
Forbes  ?  Of  course  I  do.  Oh,  yes  ;  I  recollect. 
He  is  at  the  Aquidneck.  Have  you  met  him  al 
ready  ?  " 

"No,"  said  Leah,  gravely;  "but  I  have  met  his 
wife." 

"  Ah,"  said  her  companion,  with  an  odd 
accent  upon  the  monosyllable.  "I  know  Mrs. 
Forbes  slightly." 

"Tell  me  about  them,"  demanded  Leah. 

"About  them?"  he  repeated,  with  a  quizzical 
mystification.  "  Do  you  mean  who  and  what  they 
are?" 

"  Oh,  no.  I  have  learned  all  that  from  the  poor 
little  lady  herself." 


126  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"  Why  do  you  call  her  a  poor  little  lady  ?  " 

Leah  was  transiently  silent.  "  Because,"  she 
soon  said,  with  emphasis,  "  I  have  an  idea  that  she 
is  shamefully  neglected." 

"Well,  I  must  allow  that  you're  right,"  re 
turned  Tremaine,  with  a  swift  sidelong  look  into 
her  face.  "  But  she  has  n't  complained,  has  she  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no.  On  the  contrary,  she  seems  to  think 
that  she  is  enormously  honored  by  being  married 
to  a  man  of  close  connection  with  the  English 
peerage,  and  who  never  takes  her  anywhere.  A 
man  who  is  ashamed  of  her,  in  fact." 

"  Well,  you  are  about  right.  She  was  a  great 
heiress.  Bertie  married  her  in  England.  He 
had  n't  a  penny.  I  never  knew  such  a  case  of 
unmurmuring  conjugal  devotion.  She  might  be 
made  presentable  enough,  if  he  would  only  in 
troduce  her.  But  he  doesn't.  He  spends  her 
money  instead — sometimes  even  gambles  it  away 
at  cards,  I  'm  afraid  —  and  keeps  her  always  per 
sistently  in  the  background.  It's  shocking  of 
him,  of  course." 

"  I  should  say  so,"  answered  Leah.  .  .  . 

A  little  later,  after  Tremaine  had  assisted  her  to 
alight  at  the  hotel  door,  and  had  said  a  few  low 
words  concerning  the  Casino  ball,  at  which  they 
were  soon  to  meet,  Leah  passed  into  the  hotel  on 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  127 

the  way  to  her  mother's  room.  But  before  reach 
ing  the  staircase  she  came  face  to  face  with  Mrs. 
Forbes. 

"  I  saw  you  come  back  from  your  drive,"  said 
this  lady,  in  her  brisk,  nasal  way.  She  looked 
extremely  pretty ;  she  was  dressed  quite  showily, 
j'et  tastefulty,  for  dinner.  "Did  you  enjoy  it?" 
she  went  on. 

"  Oh,  very  much,"  replied  Leah.  "  Did  you 
not  drive  this  afternoon  ?  " 

"  No.  Bertie  took  some  gentlemen  out.  But  I 
usually  drive  —  that  is,  when  he  does  n't  want 
my  particular  horses.  We  have  only  four  with 
us,  this  year ;  we  were  not  sure  how  long  we 
should  stay,  you  know ;  and  one  of  Bertie's  has 
gone  lame  several  times  since  our  arrival." 

"  So  you  let  him  keep  you  at  home  ? "  said 
Leah,  with  a  dubious  levity,  while  her  brown  eyes 
dwelt  very  firmly  on  the  little  woman's  gay,  kindly 
face.  She  lifted  one  finger  and  shook  it  with 
smiling  admonition.  "  Ah,  Mrs.  Forbes,  if  I  were 
you  I  would  manage  things  very  differently  ! " 

Mrs.  Forbes  could  not  feel  offended.  Her  inti 
macy  with  Leah  had  been  rapid  and  almost  wholly 
of  her  own  making.  Besides,  Leah  greatly  at 
tracted  her ;  she  thought  her  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  young  creatures  she  had  ever  seen ;  and 


128  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

she  had  a  pronounced  liking  for  beauty  in  her 
own  sex.  Apart  from  all  these  considerations, 
too,  the  girl  had  given  her  little  burst  of  famil 
iarity  with  enough  jocose  carelessness  to  render  it 
safely  non-committal. 

"  How  would  you  manage  things  ?  "  asked  Mrs. 
Forbes,  with  a  sudden  earnestness  that  struck  her 
hearer  as  a  little  short  of  wistful.  "  I  'd  like  to 
know.  I  've  been  wanting  to  know." 

Leah  promptly  became  serious.  She  slipped 
one  hand  into  one  of  Mrs.  Forbes's  plump  hands 
as  she  spoke,  while  still  maintaining  her  fixed 
regard. 

"  You  ask  me  that  question,"  she  said.  "  I  don't 
know  what  precise  answer  you  wish,  but  I  will 
give  3*0 u  a  frank  and  sincere  answer.  It  is  this  :  I 
would  go  to  the  Casiuo  ball  to-night.  It  means 
more  than  it  says,  that  slight  answer  of  mine. 
There 's  a  good  deal  behind  it." 

Mrs.  Forbes's  color  grew  slowly  from  its  usual 
pink  into  a  much  richer  shade.  But  she  did  not 
withdraw  her  hand  from  Leah's. 

"You  —  you  mean  against  his  will?"  she  said, 
hesitatingly. 

Leah  pressed  the  hand  that  she  held.  The  rec 
ollection  of  Tremaine's  words  now  keenly  recurred 
to  her. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  129 

"  Oh,  Mrs.  Forbes,"  she  answered,  every  trace  of 
her  customary  secure  reserve  having  fled,  and  a  fer 
vent,  sincere  cordiality  replacing  it,  "I  don't  know 
if  I  am  not  unwarrantably  officious !  I  expected 
that  you  were  going  to  snub  me,  and  I  should  n't 
have  minded  it  if  you  had!  .  But,  yes,  really,  I  do 
mean  against  his  will,  since  you  ask  my  meaning. 
I  would  not  stand  being  made  —  oh,  well,"  she 
suddenly  broke  off,  "  I  can't  say  it !  We  have  got 
to  be  very  good  friends,  of  course,  in  this  little  bit 
of  a  time  — but  still  I  can't  say  it !  You  can  un 
derstand  if  you  choose."  Here  the  speaker  looked 
as  grim  as  her  fine-cut  and  clear-lined  face  would 
permit.  "And  upon  my  word,"  she  pronounced, 
with  her  voice  as  gutturally  bass  as  she  could  make 
its  naturally  soft  tones,  "I  do  hope  that  you  will 
understand  !  " 

"  I  think  that  I  do  understand,"  said  Mrs. 
Forbes. 

Leah  had  not  heard  her  speak  with  anything 
like  this  decisiveness  before.  The  new  tone 
startled  her. 

When,  after  dining,  Leah  went  to  her  room,  she 
found  a  large  knot  of  fresh  pink  roses  waiting 
on  her  dressing-table.  The  bouquet  was  shaped 
with  perfect  skill  for  a  corsage.  She  fixed  it 
in  the  bosom  of  her  white  dress,  knowing 


130  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

well  who  had  sent  it.  Mrs.  Romilly  also  knew. 
Mother  and  daughter  dressed  together,  almost  in 
silence. 

"  By  the  way,"  said  Leah,  when  they  were  both 
about  to  go  downstairs,  "  did  Rainsford  speak  of 
accompanying  us  ?  " 

Mrs.  Romilly's  face  flushed  a  little.  She  was 
clad  in  a  robe  of  filmy  black,  whose  sombreness 
Leah  had  insisted  on  relieving  with  a  few  of  her 
large  pink,  gauzy-petaled  roses. 

"  Leah,"  she  murmured,  "  how  can  you  expect 
that?" 

Leah  tossed  her  head. 

"I  don't  expect  it,"  she  answered.  An  instant 
later  her  eyes,  which  had  got  an  excited  spark  in 
their  velvety  brown,  wandered  toward  her  mother. 
And  then  she  went  straight  up  to  Mrs.  Romilly 
and  put  both  arms  round  the  lady's  neck. 

"  You  're  a  perfect  picture  !  "  she  exclaimed. 
"  I  never  saw  you  look  so  bewilderingly  hand 
some.  Kiss  me  !  " 

Her  fresh  red  lips  were  within  an  inch  of  her 
mother's,  but  she  held  her  lightsome,  flower-like 
head  obstinately  backward,  waiting  for  the  kiss  to 
be  given.  Mrs.  Romilly  gave  it,  with  a  faint  sigh 
that  Leah's  quick,  gay  laugh  might  have  drowned 
to  the  girl's  own  ears. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  131 

"  You  '11  have  a  splendid  time,"  she  exclaimed. 
"  I  know  you  '11  be  admired,  /expect  to  be.  And 
I  made  you  come  with  me,  poor,  dear  mamma,  did 
n't  I  ?  I  got  the  best  of  you.  That  is  the  way  of 
the  world ;  the  little  people  always  get  the  best  of 
the  great  ones,  I  begin  to  think.  .  .  .  But  you  '11 
have  a  splendid  time,  as  I  said.  ...  I  intend  to 
have  one  myself." 

Leah  did.  The  ball  of  this  evening  was  espec 
ially  brilliant  in  the  way  of  patrician  attendance. 
Mrs.  Abbott  Fortescue  was  there,  loudly  but  be 
comingly  dressed  in  a  gown  of  some  yellow-and- 
black  tissue  that  suited  her  tawny  complexion 
beyond  cavil.  But  Tremaine  was  not  at  Mrs.  For- 
tescue's  side.  He  adhered  devotedly  to  Leah,  who 
refused  to  dance  with  him. 

"  I  don't  dance  at  all,"  she  told  him  with  posi- 
tiveness.  "  I  never  could  learn,  and  I  shall  never 
try  to  learn  any  more." 

"  Dancing  is  a  frightful  bore,"  he  said.  "  I  am 
so  glad  you  hate  it.  I  do." 

"  I  don't  hate  it,"  said  Leah,  looking  at  the 
forms,  masculine  and  feminine,  which  were  mov 
ing  across  the  waxed  floor.  "  I  think  it  is  charm 
ing  to  be  able  to  dance.  I  envy  those  who  can." 

"A  swan  walks  ungracefully,"  said  Tremaine, 
having  a  smile  in  his  dark-blue  eyes  which  his 


132  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

mouth,  shaded  with  its  long,  blond  moustache, 
gave  no  sign  of.  "  She  can  only  swim." 

"  Please  don't  call  me  a  swan,"  said  Leah,  with 
arch  impatience.  "  I  don't  like  it.  It  is  so  near 
being  called  a  goose." 

"  Oh,  /did  n't  call  you  so,"  returned  Tremaine. 
"Somebody  whispered  it  just  now.  Shall  I  tell 
you  who  ?  It  was  the  great  Mrs.  Chichester  — 
the  reigning  power,  one  might  say,  of  both  New 
port  and  New  York.  And  I  don't  know  how  many 
men,"  he  went  on,  "have  asked  to  be  presented. 
I  've  promised  them  all  that  I  would  get  your  per 
mission.  Do  you  grant  it?  I  wish  you  would 
say  'no,'  but  I  am  very  much  afraid  you  will  say 
'yes.'" 

Leah  creased  her  straight  white  brows  reflect 
ively.  "  I  want  to  see  how  mamma  is  getting 
on,"  she  said,  turning  her  head  swiftly  away  from 
her  companion,  "before  I  either  consent  or  re 
fuse." 

She  saw  her  mother,  seated  in  a  portion  of  the 
large  ball-room  that  was  reserved  for  dowagers  and 
non-dancers  generally,  in  converse  with  a  white- 
haired,  sweet-faced  lady,  who  seemed  glad  of  her 
society. 

"  With  whom  is  mamma  talking  ?  "  she  asked  of 
Tremaine. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  133 

"  With  Mrs.  Lydia  Holt  Morrison,"  he  at  once 
answered. 

Leah  recognized  the  name.  "  Oh,  yes,"  she  said. 
"  Mamma  knew  that  she  lived  in  Newport  —  or 
somewhere  near.  They  met  years  ago.  She 
always  wanted  to  meet  her  again.  I  know  all 
about  her;  mamma  has  told  me.  I  am  so  glad 
that  they  have  got  together.  I  assured  her  that 
she  was  to  have  a  splendid  time.  .  .  .  Well,  on 
the  whole,  I  conclude  that  I  will  let  you  introduce 
those  gentlemen."  She  said  it  with  a  laugh  of 
almost  insolent  condescension.  He  thought  how 
exquisite  she  looked,  too,  as  she  said  it,  with  her 
half-curled  lip  and  her  softly  flashing  eyes  under 
the  dense,  back-drawn  gold  of  her  hair.  .  .  . 

A  little  later  she  was  the  centre  of  quite  a  throng 
of  gentlemen.  She  found  some  of  them  tiresomely 
stupid,  and  almost  told  them  so,  with  her  ready 
speech,  full  of  apt  utterance  and  easy  repartee. 
But  others  she  found  attractive,  and  bent  on  these 
her  most  indulgent  smiles. 

Tremaine  presently  dropped  away  from  her. 
He  was  irritated  at  her  wish  to  know  other  men. 
"  She  is  already  a  great  belle,"  he  thought.  "  It 
was  certain  to  happen.  The  men  are  flocking 
about,  her  like  sheep.  One  presents  another." 
He  repressed  an  inward  oath  of  discontent.  He 


134  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

was  ready  at  oaths  when  annoyed  and  sure  that 
no  woman  overheard  him. 

He  went  out  on  the  big  porch,  where  a  breeze 
was  blowing,  and  where  people  were  moving 
about. 

Suddenly,  a  very  familiar  voice  met  his  ear. 
He  started,  and  saw  Mrs.  Abbott  Fortescue  stand 
ing  quite  near  him,  in  the  dusk.  Her  olive  skin 
and  her  black-and-yellow  braveries  harmonized 
well ;  but  even  in  the  dusk  Tremaine's  eye  could 
see  that  she  was  both  pale  and  angry. 

"  You  're  alone?"  he  said,  still  more  annoyed,  not 
knowing  what  to  say. 

"  Yes ;  I  saw  you  leave  the  ball-room,"  Mrs.  For 
tescue  answered.  Her  black  eyes  were  riveted  on 
his  face.  "  I  slipped  away  to  meet  you.  It  was 
my  only  chance.  You  have  not  spoken  to  me  this 
evening.  You  drove  this  afternoon  with  that  girl. 
What  does  it  mean  ?  "  • 

They  were  standing  together  now  in  a  very  ob 
scure  portion  of  the  spacious  and  shadowy  place. 

Tremaine  looked  sullenly,  even  defiantly,  at  the 
woman  who  thus  addressed  him. 

"  It  means  anything  you  choose,"  he  said.  "  It 
means  that  I  am  tired." 

"  Tired !  "  she  repeated,  drawing  back  from  him 
a  little. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  135 

"No,"  he  answered,  with  a  sudden,  sinister  gay- 
ety,  "  not  a  bit  of  it !  I  'm  refreshed !  I  shall  ask 
Leah  Romilly  to  be  my  wife  before  an  hour  has 
passed.  She  will  refuse,  of  course.  But  that  will 
not  matter.  It  will  prepare  the  way  for  my  ac 
ceptance  hereafter.  It 's  time  I  married.  And  I 
mean  to  marry  her" 

"  You  mean  to  marry  her  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Fortes- 
cue,  very  softly,  looking  at  him  intently  in  the 
dimness  with  her  black  eyes-,  that  now  seemed  to 
burn  his  own  gaze  as  they  met  it. 

"  Yes." 

As  Tremaine  uttered  the  word,  he  turned  on 
his  heel  and  passed  once  more  into  the  bright-lit 
ball-room. 

He  so  rarely  committed  the  least  discourtesy 
toward  a  woman  that  this  act  was,  in  its  way, 
fatefully  momentous. 


VII. 

S.  ABBOTT  FORTESCUE  went  back 
into  the  ball-room  with  a  beating  heart  and 
an  angry  soul ;  but  she  was  very  far  from  believing 
that  Tracy  Tremaine  had  actually  meant  his  recent 
words.  Men  may  love  at  first  sight,  but  the  inten 
tion  of  matrimony  is  a  more  deliberate  affair,  even 
with  the  most  amorous  of  suitors. 

Tracy  Tremaine  had,  indeed,  spoken  at  random. 
And  yet  he  felt  certain  regarding  one  point  —  that 
he  was  exceedingly,  however  suddenly,  in  love 
with  Leah  Romilly.  Her  new  belleship  told  him 
this  in  forcible  terms.  He  watched  other  men 
watch  her,  smile  upon  her,  be  smiled  upon  in  re 
turn,  and  his  quickened  pulses  told  him  the  truth. 
No  such  sensation  had  ever  entered  his  being  be 
fore.  He  measured  it  by  his  past  caprices,  and 
felt  the  folly  of  resisting  its  intense  headway. 

Mrs.  Abbott  Fortescue  was  in  many  respects  a 

clever  woman.      She  had  thus  far  succeeded  in 

doing  a  very  difficult  thing  with  success ;   she  had 

braved  scandal,  and  yet  held  her  own  as  a  leader 

136 


TINKLING  CYMBALS.  137 

in  the  fashionable  world.  Her  dinners  were  not 
only  models  of  culinary  skill;  the  people  whom 
she  allowed  to  eat  them  were  such  as  did  not  sow 
their  courtesies  broadcast.  She  had  made  one 
arch-enemy  by  her  daring  indiscretions.  She 
knew  this,  and  in  thinking  of  the  great  power 
which  that  enemy  held  she  sometimes  trembled 
for  her  future  position.  She  was  a  woman  who 
had  always  skated  on  thin  ice,  and  enjoyed  the 
excitement  of  the  peril.  Her  good  name  was  very 
dear  to  her  for  the  prestige  that  it  brought,  and  she 
liked  to  remember,  now  and  then,  that  she  had  been 
a  poor  country  clergyman's  daughter  when  she 
married  Abbott  Fortescue,  and  that  he  had  been 
an  obscure  young  stock-broker.  It  pleased  her  to 
think  that  her  wit  and  energy  had  pushed  him 
into  his  present  high  place  as  one  of  the  Wall 
Street  -millionaires,  while  it  had  lifted  herself 
among  the  social  celebrities  of  New  York.  She 
knew  perfectly  well  that  her  "  tone  "  was  thought 
to  be  vicious,  and  yet  that  in  every  practical  sense 
this  evil  repute  harmed  neither  her  prominence 
nor  her  power.  She  understood  that  her  one 
great  safeguard  was  her  husband ;  as  long  as  she 
kept  him  loyal  in  his  adherence  and  belief,  she 
could  easily  breast  the  tides  of  assailant  gossip. 
Thus  far  she  had  so  kept  him  with  an  unwavering 


138  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

security.  He  was  a  man  of  considerable  brains, 
and  yet  he  never  suspected  in  her  the  least  ap 
proach  to  absolute  infidelity.  He  used  to  say  off 
handedly  that  Serena  liked  her  fun,  and  it  was  all 
nonsense  for  a  woman  to  cage  herself  merely  be 
cause  she  was  married.  But  it  never  occurred  to 
him  that  he  was  even  reposing  confidence  in  her. 
He  was  no  longer  very  fond  of  her ;  they  had  no 
children  ;  he  liked  her  way  of  presiding  at  the 
head  of  his  household,  and  he  was  proud  of  the 
individual  distinction  that  she  had  won.  He  knew 
of  her  enemy,  and  regretted  the  quarrel,  as  he 
chose  to  term  it,  though  there  had  really  never 
been  any  quarrel  at  the  root  of  this  rioted  antago 
nism. 

The  name  of  the  enemy  was  Mrs.  Chichester,  of 
New  York.  Hers  was  a  very  different  gentility 
from  that  of  Mrs.  Fortescue.  That  of  the  latter 
might  perish  in  a  day;  a  sudden  esclandre publique 
would  sweep  it  away,  as  a  tornado  sweeps  a  rose- 
garden.  But  the  standing  of  the  former  was  in 
destructible  in  its  august  stability.  The  Chiches- 
ters  owned  blocks  of  houses  in  New  York.  The 
aggregate  income  of  the  family  was  enormous. 
Their  name  had  for  several  years  past  been  one 
of  the  shibboleths  of  our  groaning  socialists. 
Mrs.  Stephen  A.  Chichester,  as  it  was  customary 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  139 

for  the  society-columns  of  the  newspapers  to 
entitle  her,  was  the  acknowledged  head  of  her 
very  wealthful  house.  There  were  other  Mrs. 
Chichesters,  all  of  whom  shared  the  magic  that 
engirt  this  race  of  mighty  capitalists ;  but  she,  for 
reasons  which  concerned  her  lord's  vast  posses 
sions,  yet  not  for  these  reasons  entirely,  reigned 
lofty  and  alone.  Those  who  declared  the  Chi 
chesters  to  be  monopolist  upstarts,  even  while 
glad  and  proud  to  know  them,  could  fling  no  simi 
lar  slur  upon  this  particular  lady.  She  had  been 
a  Miss  Vanderveer,  and  an  heiress  of  large  for 
tune,  before  her  marriage.  Everybody  knew  the 
Knickerbocker  soundness  of  the  Vanderveers ; 
that  implied  a  solidity  like  the  foundations  of 
Old  Trinity  itself,  near  which  many  of  this  note 
worthy  race  lay  buried.  Thus  Mrs.  Chichester 
held  all  the  advantages  of  colossal  opulence,  blent 
with  the  talismanic  charms  of  a  brilliant  pedigree. 
She  bore  these  double  honors  with  great  modesty 
and  sense.  She  was  now  nearly  fifty  years  of 
age,  but  the  necessity  of  bringing  three  daughters 
out  into  society  had  caused  her  to  remain  an  ac 
tive  participant  in  its  pomps.  The  daughters  were 
now  all  married,  but  Mrs.  Chichester  continued  to 
"  entertain."  It  must  be  conceded  that  she  enter 
tained  with  a  lavish  splendor,  tempered  by  the 


140  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

most  faultless  good  taste.  Her  house  at  Newport 
was  a  roomy  mass  of  gray  stone,  towering  above 
the  sea,  and  appointed  with  incomparable  beauty. 
Her  new  mansion,  near  Central  Park,  was  one  of 
our  metropolitan  marvels,  both  without  and  within. 
It  has  been  stated  that  her  age  verged  upon 
fifty ;  but  she  failed  physically  to  show,  by  at  least 
ten  years,  this  material  advancement.  She  had 
been  a  very  lovely  maiden  in  her  youth,  and  she 
was  now  a  somewhat  stout  matron,  with  masses  of 
curly  chestnut  hair,  into  which  time  had  slipped 
only  the  most  lenient  silver,  and  a  complexion 
whose  natural  creamy  freshness  yet  withstood  the 
aggression  of  all  serious  wrinkles.  Her  neck  and 
arms  were  phenomenal  in  their  chaste  and  just 
moulding,  and  though  report  spoke  with  bated 
breath  of  the  precious  jewels  in  her  possession, 
she  rarely  wore  as  much  as  even  a  thread  or  band 
of  gold  about  throat  or  wrist.  She  had  the  repute 
of  being  a  martinet  as  regarded  decorum,  and  had 
been  known  more  than  once  to  strike  from  her 
visiting-book  the  names  of  certain  young  men  who 
had  offended  her  by  their  indifference,  their  lazi 
ness,  or  their  self-esteem. 

She  had  struck  Mrs.  Abbott  Fortescue's  name 
from  her  visiting-book,  and  had  indeed  once  cut 
this  lady  on  meeting  her  face  to  face,  with  that 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  141 

freezing  avoidance  which  looks  past,  above,  below 
you,  but  never  straightly  encounters  your  waiting 
gaze. 

Mrs.  Fortescue  at  length  understood.  She  had 
been  dropped  by  the  great  regnant  dignitary.  She 
invented  a  falsehood  as  the  reason  of  the  termi 
nated  acquaintance,  and  endeavored  to  make  its 
cessation  appear  the  result  of  a  mutual  rupture. 
No  one  believed  the  falsehood  except  her  husband, 
whom  no  one  attempted  to  disabuse  of  his  decep 
tion.  It  reached  the  ears  of  Mrs.  Chichester,  and 
hardened  her  more  than  ever  against  its  author. 
She  had  cut  Mrs.  Fortescue  on  strictly  moral 
grounds,  and  for  no  other  cause.  She  had  the 
charity,  however,  not  publicly  to  proclaim  this; 
she  made,  with  unpharisaical  wisdom,  the  whole 
affair  one  between  herself  and  her  own  conscience. 
Of  course  Mrs.  Fortescue  profited  by  her  reticence. 
If  the  great  lady  had  chosen  to  head  any  hot  fac 
tion  against  her  she  could  ill  have  held  her  own 
with  so  formidable  a  foe. 

Mrs.  Chichester  liked  Tracy  Tremaine,  though 
she  disapproved  of  him.  There  was  at  one  time  a 
rumor  that  he  had  become  engaged  to  a  daughter 
of  hers,  but  events^  soon  disproved  this  fallacy ; 
she  would  never  have  permitted  such  a  union. 
Still,  as  recorded,  she  felt  the  spell  of  Tremaine's 


142  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

bel  air  and  indolent  attractiveness.  His  dead 
father  had  been  a  beau  of  her  own  in  past  ante- 
matrimonial  years.  Tracy  reminded  her  of  those 
years ;  he  won  her  reluctant  indulgence ;  she  de 
plored  his  intimacy  with  Mrs.  Fortescue,  and 
would  have  given  much  to  break  it. 

Once  or  twice  Tremaine  had  shown  signs,  dur 
ing  a  few  recent  seasons,  of  snapping  the  bondage 
in  which  his  charmer  held  him.  But  Mrs.  Fortes- 
cue  had  brought  him  swiftly  back  to  her  side. 
She  stood,  presently,  fanning  herself  with  a  big 
gorgeous  fan,  attended  by  one  or  two  of  her  inal 
ienable  male  devotees,  and  wondered  whether  she 
could  now  resume  her  sway  as  easily  as  on  former 
occasions. 

She  had  an  ominous  dread,  however,  lest  she 
might  fail.  Half  the  assemblage  was  talking  about 
Leah ;  scores  of  eyes  were  riveted  upon  the  girl ; 
she  had  made  what  is  called  a  sensation.  Mrs. 
Fortescue,  clearly  perceiving  this,  spoke  of  her 
with  a  gentle  admiration  in  which  there  was  no 
ring  of  the  irritated  foreboding  from  which  she 
suffered.  While  she  stood  thus,  unable  to  keep 
her  glance  from  straying  toward  the  new  belle, 
Mr.  Bertie  Forbes  sauntered  up  to  her  side. 

They  were  very  good  friends.  They  had  met 
abroad  not  many  months  ago,  when  Mr.  Forbes 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  143 

had  secured  her  the  entree  to  several  rather  diffi 
cult  foreign  houses. 

"  She  's  not  bad,"  he  drawled,  after  the  talk  had 
inevitably  drifted  upon  Leah.  "I  exchanged  a 
few  words  with  her.  She  's  at  the  Aquidneck,  you 
know,  so  I  thought  it  would  only  be  civil  to  let 
Tremaine  present  me.  Besides,  she 's  got  in  with 
my  wife." 

"I  saw  your  wife  here,"  said  Mrs.  Fortescue, 
surprisedly.  "  Is  n't  that  something  very  unu 
sual  ?  " 

"  Bertie,"  who  had  a  mindless,  inanimate  face, 
over  which  his  hair  was  so  glued  to  his  narrow 
head  on  either  side  of  a  white,  accurately  central 
parting,  that  it  made  him  look  as  if  he  wore  some 
kind  of  glossy  black  satin  cap  which  clung  with  a 
wonderful  skin-fit,  now  shifted  his  lank,  loose- 
jointed  body  a  good  deal  sideways,  and  gave  vent 
to  a  discontented  groan. 

"  Good  gracious,"  he  said,  grumbling  the  words 
to  Mrs.  Fortescue  alone,  in  surly  confidence,  "  it 's 
all  this  girl's  doin's,  don't  you  know  ?  She  's  put 
a  lot  of  stuff  into  Lucy's  head  about  my  neglectin' 
her.  Only  farncy !  Arfter  a  few  hours  of  ac 
quaintance  !  .  .  .  I  went  to  the  'otel  to  dress  mee- 
self  to-night,  and  there,  was  Lucy  in  teahs.  She 
was  ready  to  have  a  dreadful  raow  with  me  unless 


144  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

I  brought  her  heah.  She  said  there  were  two 
nerses  to  mind  the  babies,  and  that  I  never  treated 
her  as  a  husband  should,  and  oh,  a  lot  of  rot  like 
that,  and  then  ended  by  say  in'  she  'd  met  a  real 
woman,  of  real  spirit,  who  'd  opened  her  eyes  to 
the  propah  respect  thet  was  dew  a  wife,  ye  know. 
Now,  let  me  arsk  you,  could  anything  be  maw  of 
a  baw  ?  " 

"  Do  you  mean  that  there  has  been  a  domestic 
insurrection,"  asked  Mrs.  Fortescue,  "and  that 
this  young  lady  has  brought  it  about  ?  " 

Mr.  Forbes  struck  the  black  broadcloth  of  his 
thin  thigh  with  a  pair  of  kid  gloves  that  he  car 
ried,  clutched  together  in  lavender  limpness. 

"  Yes ;  that  is  precisely  what  I  do  mean.  Did 
you  ever  heah  of  such  beastly  officiousness  ?  " 

At  any  other  time  Mrs.  Fortescue  would  have 
secretly  exulted  over  her  friend's  discomfiture, 
and  regarded  it  as  a  surpassingly  good  joke.  But 
now  it  dealt  her  a  new  wound ;  if  Lean  were  clever 
enough  to  turn  the  tables  upon  this  abominably 
selfish  young  English  snob  (for  it  was  thus  that 
Mrs.  Fortescue  had  always  considered  him),  what 
subverting  changes  might  she  not  already  have 
wrought  in  Tremaine  ? 

"I  should  think  it  a  very  imprudent  way  of  be 
ginning  her  Newport  career,"  said  the  dusky  little 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  145 

lady,  "  by  mixing  herself  up  in  matters  which  do 
not  concern  her.  That  is,  if  she  is  going  to  have 
a  career.  What  do  you  think  ?  " 

"A  careeah?"  repeated  Bertie.  He  glanced 
toward  the  dark-coated  throng  which  almost  con 
cealed  Leah's  fair  young  figure.  "  It  looks  awfully 
like  it.  I  carn't  see  what  they  see  in  her,  for  my 
part." 

He  could,  perfectly.  The  wife  whom  he  had 
made  support  him  for  several  years  in  moneyed 
sloth,  and  whom  he  had  shown  the  manly  grati 
tude  of  treating  a  little  worse  than  though  she 
were  the  nursery-goverrfess  of  his  children  and  her 
own,  had  needed  but  a  straw  to  test  the  capacity 
of  her  patience.  Leah  had  supplied  this  straw, 
and  the  petty  spirit  of  Mr.  Bertie  Forbes  hated  her 
accordingly.  "  Her  mothah,  you  know,"  he  went 
on,  "is  really  a  very  objectionable,  public  sort  of 
person.  I  don't  think  any  of  the  women  will  take 
her  up  on  this  account." 

But  before  the  evening  was  over,  both  foes  had 
the  somewhat  questionable  satisfaction  of  seeing 
Leah  in  close  converse  with  Mrs.  Stephen  A.  Chi- 
chester. 

The  truth  flashed,  then,  through  Mrs.  Fortes- 
cue's  ired  mind.  Her  old  enemy  had  gone  silently 
but  effectively  to  work.  She  was  setting  upon 


146  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

this  new  preference  of  Tracy  Tremairie's  a  cachet 
which  her  own  acquaintance  could  almost  singly 
bestow. 

Mrs.  Chichester  had  proceeded  with  perfect  tact. 
She  had  admired  Leah  in  the  hearing  of  Tremaine, 
but  she  had  by  no  means  allowed  the  latter  to 
make  the  desired  presentation.  In  speaking  to 
her  of  Leah,  Tremaine  had  recently  said :  "  She 
comes  from  New  York.  Her  mother  is  with  her 
here  at  the  Aquidneck." 

"  They  have  not  cared  to  go  about  much,  I  sup 
pose?"  said  Mrs.  Chichester,  who  always  spoke 
very  guardedly  on  all  matters  of  social  degree. 

"No,"  returned  Tremaine,  who  understood  the 
words  in  their  precise  import.  This  import  was 
just  as  plain  to  him  as  if  Mrs.  Chichester  had  said 
outright,  "  They  have  no  position  in  society,  since 
I  have  never  heard  of  them,  and  since  they  yet 
live  in  New  York." 

"  The  mother  is  a  sort  of  literary  woman,  I  be 
lieve,"  he  continued.  "Her  name  is  Elizabeth 
Cleeve  Romilly.  You  have  probably  heard  it." 

"  It  has  a  vaguely  familiar  sound,"  said  Mrs. 
Chichester ;  "  and  yet "...  Here  she  shook  her 
handsome  head.  "  No  ;  I  can't  place  her." 

This  was  surely  a  most  credible  circumstance. 
The  speaker  had  dwelt,  through  all  her  fifty  years 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  147 

of  life,  hedged  in  by  every  stout  encompassment 
of  orthodoxy  that  the  most  conservative  princi 
ples  could  possibly  rear  between  herself  and  that 
loud,  radical  world  in  which  Leah's  mother  had 
once  shone  with  such  meteoric  radiance.  But 
when  Tremaine  said,  "  Mrs.  Romilly  is  talking  now 
with  Mrs.  Lydia  Holt  Morrison,  and  I  believe  they 
are  old  friends,"  his  companion  gave  an  approving 
nod.  She  liked  the  white-haired,  sweet-faced  Bos 
ton  woman,  who  had  transgressed  the  usage  of 
upper  circles,  it  was  true,  and  yet  who  had  been 
one  of  the  Holts,  and  whom  she  considered  charm 
ing  and  high-bred,  notwithstanding  her  "  advanced 
views." 

But  it  was  not  through  Mrs.  Morrison  that  she 
secured  the  flattering  introduction  to  Leah.  The 
Misses  Marksley  chanced  to  be  hovering  in  her 
near  neighborhood,  attended  by  one  or  two  of  those 
unpopular  male  revellers  to  whom  the  pleasure  of 
reflecting  that  they  have  enjoyed  fashionable  life 
is  compensation  for  nights  and  days  of  tedious  dis 
countenance.  Mrs.  Chichester  knew  the  Misses 
Marksley,  or  rather  remembered  that  for  a  slight 
while  past  she  had  had  the  option  of  recognizing 
them  or  not,  at  her  royal  inclination.  It  had  fallen 
from  Tremaine,  in  some  chance  way,  that  Leah 
knew  these  young  ladies.  Mrs.  Chichester,  who 


148  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

was  never  without  at  least  two  or  three  waiting 
escorts,  contrived  to  have  herself  placed  not  far 
from  the  sisters.  A  little  later  she  amazed  them 
both  by  addressing  one  of  them.  The  honor  made 
both  tingle.  Two  excitedly  civil  faces  were  lifted 
to  her  own.  It  became  rapidly  evident  to  Mrs. 
Chichester  that  she  would  have  no  difficulty  what 
ever  in  being  accompanied  by  gentle  sidelong  ap 
proaches  toward  the  neighborhood  of  Leah. 

And  then  the  introduction  followed.  Each  of 
the  Misses  Marksley  gave  it,  in  a  sort  of  fluttered, 
demoralized  duo.  They  were  so  impressed  by  the 
idea  that  Mrs.  Chichester  had  condescended  to 
address  them  at  all,  after  a  fortuitous  and  unex 
pected  meeting  during  the  previous  week,  that 
Leah  scarcely  understood  their  real  intention  from 
their  eager  and  half-coherent  words,  until,  as  it 
might  be  said,  she  found  herself  face  to  face  with 
majesty. 

She  conducted  herself  in  a  thoroughly  unawed 
way.  She  was  agreeable,  and  this,  at  all  times 
with  Leah,  meant  to  be  fascinating.  Mrs.  Chi- 
chester's  trained  perception  read  her  keenly.  She 
saw  the  girlish  egotism,  the  uncalculating  pride, 
the  haughty  self-confidence.  But  she  liked  Leah, 
nevertheless,  and  was  so  allured  and  enticed  by 
something  in  her  smile,  her  contour,  her  voice,  her 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  149 

attitude,  that  when  she  had  pressed  the  slight  hand 
in  her  own  full-palmed  one,  and  asked  her  to  drop 
in  at  Steep  Rock  any  morning,  this  sovereign  lady 
felt  that,  after  all,  she  had  conferred  no  unde 
served  compliment. 

Nor  would  Leah  have  thought  so  if  the  Misses 
Marksley,  still  sensibly  tingling,  had  not  assured 
her  with  loquacious  vehemence  that  she  had  made 
a  most  signal  conquest.  Leah  listened  amusedly 
to  the  voluble  congratulations  of  the  sisters.  She 
had  no  thought  of  taking  offence.  There  was 
something  ludicrous  and  yet  pitiable  in  the  ami 
able  envy  with  which  they  regarded  the  great 
lady's  recent  action. 

"  She  can  make  it  so  monstrously  pleasant  for 
you,  my  dear,"  declared  Louisa.  .  .  .  "Oh,  yes, 
Leah,"  continued  Caroline ;  "  she  is  perfectly 
adored  and  worshipped  in  Newport,  you  know, 
and  anything  that  she  says  is  just  Zaw."  .  .  .  "If 
she  chose  to  take  up  a  red-handed  assassin  she 
could  make  him  a  swell,"  struck  in  Louisa.  .  .  . 
"  Oh,  she  has  shown  that  you  have  set  her  mad 
with  admiration,"  resumed  Caroline;  "and,  upon 
my  word,  we  're  not  surprised  at  it,  for  you  do 
look  simply  ravishing  to-night,  my  dear,  and  it 's 
no  wonder  a  bit  that  the  men  are  all  insane  to  be 
presented."  .  .  . 


150  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

This  species  of  convulsive  exaggeration  was 
continued  in  spasmodic  asides,  until  Leah  began 
to  weary  of  it.  She  felt  relieved  when  the  Misses 
Marksley  withdrew  themselves  and  their  cordial 
hyperboles. 

"  I  think  I  can  see  why  they  are  not  a  success," 
she  said  soon  afterward  to  Tremaine,  in  her  placid, 
even  voice.  "  They  are  too  anxious  to  please. 
And  then  the  way  in  which  they  hurl  their  super 
latives  at  you !  It 's  funny,  but  rather  tiresome. 
Are  many  of  the  Newport  maidens  like  that?" 

"Oh,  no,"  he  returned.  "The  volcanic  style 
is  n't  much  in  vogue.  But  the  Marksleys  are  very 
typical,  —  very  representative.  They  belong  to  a 
class.  They  are  essentially  American,  somehow. 
No  other  country  on  the  globe  could  ever  produce 
them.  Everything  that  they  do,  they  overdo.  .  .  . 
But  I'm  not  going  to  abuse  them,"  he  continued, 
appreciably  softening  his  tones ;  "  I  can't  afford  to. 
They  were  the  means  of  our  getting  acquainted. 
.  .  .  Here  come  at  least  four  men  whom  they 
frightened  away  from  you.  Don't  you  think 
it  was  extremely  nice  and  heroic  of  me  to  stick 
beside  you  in  the  very  teeth  of  your  persecu 
tion  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  was  not  persecuted,"  said  Leah.  "  I 
should  never  have  stood  it  so  long  if  I  had 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  151 

been.  Patience  is  by  no  means  one  of  my  few 
virtues."  .  .  . 

That  evening  was  a  memorable  one  with  Leah. 
She  told  her  mother  so  frankly,  and  with  an  un 
accustomed  fervor,  after  they  had  regained  the 
hotel. 

"  I  feel  that  I  was  made  for  this  life,  too,"  she 
proceeded. 

"No  one  was  ever  made  for  such  a  life,"  said 
Mrs.  Romilly. 

"  Oh,  nonsense,  now,  mamma !  You  enjoyed 
it !  I  saw  you  having  a  delicious  time  with  Mrs. 
Morrison." 

"Ah,  my  dear,  she  is  a  woman  quite  out  of  place 
in  all  that  empty  whirl.  I  don't  think  that  she 
endorses  its  futility ;  she  merely  accepts  it.  I  told 
her  so  to-night." 

"I  hope  you  didn't  lecture  her,"  reproved 
Leah.  "  She  is  a  power  in  her  way.  She  is  some 
body  whom  I  wish  to  have  on  my  side.  You  see, 
I  know  all  about  her.  I  have  inquired.  She  was 
once  something  like  your  dear  self.  I  mean  she 
had  opinions,  and  publicly  aired  them." 

"  She  was  born  in  a  different  sphere  from  mine." 

"  I  know  —  of  an  old,  influential  Massachusetts 
family.  She  married  a  man  of  wealth  and  posi 
tion." 


152  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"Position   in  the  fashionable  world,  my  dear." 

Leah  gave  a  positive  little  gesture. 

"That  is  the  only  sort  of  position  one  should 
prize,  I  begin  to  think,"  she  affirmed.  And  then 
she  burst  into  a  laugh  of  merry  fulness.  "  Don't 
look  at  me,  please,  as  if  I  were  a  hardened  sin 
ner  !  ...  I  '11  take  it  all  back,  mamma.  Believe, 
if  you  choose,  that  I  did  n't  mean  a  word  of  it !  " 

"She  means  too  much  of  it,"  thought  Mm 
Romilly,  before  answering  these  words  of  ran 
dom  self-exculpation.  .  .  . 

It  was  not  long  afterward  that  Mrs.  Romilly  and 
Mrs.  Morrison  sat  together,  in  a  chamber  of  the 
latter  lady's  residence,  which  overlooked  a  breezy, 
ocean-skirted  lawn.  Books,  in  plenteous  array, 
lined  the  walls ;  every  appointment  was  quiet  and 
yet  of  distinctive  charm ;  it  was  evidently  the 
favorite  haunt  of  one  whose  pursuits  and  habits 
were  scholarly. 

"  Yes,"  Mrs.  Morrison  said,  continuing  a  conver 
sation  which  had  interested  both,  "  I  do  manage  to 
reconcile  my  studies  and  my  contemplations  with 
the  other  life  that  you  have  called  so  flippant  and 
weightless.  I  do  come  to  Newport,  as  you  see.  I 
do  meet  these  aimless  and  unthinking  people.  If 
you  ask  my  excuse,  I  can  only  tell  you  that  I  find 
in  their  outward  felicities  a  something  that  satisfies 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  153 

artistic  feeling.  And  I  have  never  outgrown  that. 
All  my  ethics  have  never  killed  it  in  me.  I  like  to 
think  of  Plato's  Academe  as  a  place  where  the 
walks  were  kept  well-tended,  and  where  the  dis 
ciples  wore  togas  that  drooped  gracefully." 

She  spoke  this  last  sentence  with  a  low,  musical 
laugh.  She  was  a  woman  who  had  attempted  great 
things,  in  her  day,  when  the  white  locks  that  now 
shone  above  her  aged  but  fresh-tinted  face  were 
full  of  dark  gloss.  In  the  popular  phrase  she  had 
been  as  much  a  failure  as  Mrs.  Romilly  herself. 
But  in  another  sense  she  had  succeeded.  Born 
within  circles  where  fashion  reigned  predominant 
and  where  the  key-note  was  one  of  frivolity,  she 
had  asserted  an  influence  that  told  and  obtained. 
Long  ago  she  had  contented  herself  with  being  a 
force  gently  to  improve,  not  a  force  dominantly  to 
destroy.  After  all,  she  had  plucked  better  fruit 
from  life  than  the  deeper-minded  sister  with  whom 
she  now  sat  in  reflective  colloquy.  She  had  found 
for  herself  a  certain  metier;  she  had  not  sunk  into 
entire  obscurity  with  her  theories  and  impressions. 
If  her  metaphysical  poems  did  not  sell,  if  her  pro 
found  essays  remained  unread,  she  had  still  se 
cured  an  intellectual  vantage-ground,  though  it 
might  have  been  termed  only  that  of  a  lovable  old 
lady  with  whom  light  and  elegant  people  often 


154  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

liked  to  talk,  as  a  safeguard  against  the  vague 
remorse  resultant  from  their  own  protracted  in 
dolence. 

"  We  shall  never  agree  with  regard  to  there 
being  the  least  use  and  worth  in  that  idle  throng," 
firmly  but  softly  answered  Mrs.  Romilly.  "  Let 
us  speak  of  more  concrete  things.  You  know  to 
what  I  allude." 

Mrs.  Morrison  laughed  her  melodious  laugh. 
"Yes,  .  .  .  to  Mr.  Tracy  Tremaine.  Surely,  he 
is  very  concrete ;  there  is  nothing  at  all  abstract 
about  him."  She  remained  silent  for  a  little 
while.  Then  she  looked  earnestly  with  her  dim, 
kindly  eyes  at  her  companion,  and  added:  "My 
dear  friend,  I  would  take  my  daughter  away  from 
Newport  at  once  !  There  is  my  advice,  plain  and 
candid." 

But  Leah  had  no  intention  of  leaving  Newport. 
She  was  now  in  the  full  zenith  of  her  triumphs. 
Mrs.  Chichester  had  nodded,  and  if  society  did  not 
tremble  it  certainly  obeyed.  Leah  might  have 
striven  through  three  seasons,  and  then  without 
avail,  for  admission  to  houses  that  now  opened 
prompt  and  willing  portals.  Under  the  shadow 
of  her  new  protectress's  broad  and  strong  wing, 
Leah  was  shielded  from  every  blast  of  adverse 
treatment.  Society  looked  at  her  astonishedly 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  155 

through  its  eye-glasses,  so  to  speak,  and  mur 
mured,  "  Who  is  she  ?  "  a  good  many  times.  But 
that  did  not  prevent  its  smile  from  being  of  the 
blandest,  or  its  welcome  from  being  of  the  most 
effusive.  She  has  entered,  with  an  abrupt  yet 
tranquil  advent,  straight  into  the  midst  of  a  com 
munity  as  distinct  in  its  conservatisms  and  tradi 
tions  as  anything  of  the  sort  which  has  ever 
existed.  True,  it  is  constantly  supplied  with  re 
cruits,  but  these  must  bring  with  them  the  cre 
dentials  of  great  wealth.  Only  to  the  possessor  of 
millions  will  our  Newport  aristocracy  proffer  any 
rapid  cordialities.  As  a  rule,  for  those  who  would 
gain  its  complete  endorsement,  it  presents  a  hun 
dred  different  and  devious  paths  toward  victory, 
not  seldom  so  baffling  to  the  most  resigned  pa 
tience  that  a  final  cessation  of  effort  despairingly 
ensues. 

A  great  deal  of  genuine  homage  fell  to  the 
share  of  Leah,  which  she  accepted  without  abat 
ing  by  a  jot  her  former  reposeful  aplomb.  She 
received  it  all  as  though  it  were  quite  her  due. 
She  looked  very  much  the  same  when  throned  on 
the  box-seat  of  some  drag  driven  by  an  owner  of 
high  degree  as  she  had  looked  when  seated  beside 
her  mother  on  the  piazza  of  Mrs.  Preen's  board 
ing-house.  She  would  not  even  permit  Mrs.  Chi- 


156  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

Chester  to  patronize  her.  Perhaps,  if  she  had 
done  so,  the  latter,  who  had  got  to  like  her  very 
much,  would  have  liked  her  very  much  less.  As 
it  was,  she  retained  the  lady's  full  adherence. 
This  was  clearly  seen,  and  it  surely,  if  gradually, 
transformed  her,  in  the  eyes  of  many  watchers, 
from  a  mere  ephemeral  favorite  into  one  estab 
lished  and  permanent. 

The  days  glided  along.  They  were  days  of 
infinite  enjoyment  to  Leah.  She  drove  in  stately 
equipages  to  watch  the  madly  topsy-turvy  game 
called  Polo,  undertaken  by  rash  botys  on  marvel 
lously  well-broken  ponies ;  she  attended  dinners  of 
great  state ;  she  moved  through  ball-rooms  of 
bright-lit  magnificence ;  she  played  lawn-tennis  on 
spacious  and  shaded  lawns ;  she  sat  near  cool  win 
dows,  at  afternoon  receptions,  with  always  a  bevy 
of  male  courtiers  ready  to  applaud  her  newest 
clever  epigram  —  and  some  of  her  epigrams  were 
undeniably  clever ;  she  did,  in  short,  all  that  the 
mirthful  throng  of  Newport  pleasure-seekers  do, 
and  yet  retained  among  them  a  saliency,  a  dis 
tinctness,  a  maiden-like  leadership,  which  caused 
her  name  to  be  printed  in  a  hundred  newspapers, 
and  even  made  her  the  subject  of  more  than  one 
sententious  "watering-place  letter.'' 

Meanwhile,  mother  and  daughter  remained  at 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  157 

the  Aquidneck.  For  hours  at  a  time  Mrs.  Rom- 
illy  would  not  see  Leah.  There  was  nearly  al 
ways  some  other  voluntary  chaperone.  "Mamma, 
you  need  not  go,"  had  become  an  oft-used  sen 
tence  on  Leah's  lips.  Mrs.  Romilly  remained  at 
home  with  relief,  and  yet  with  anxiety.  She  saw 
Lawrence  Rainsford  frequently  —  much  more  so 
than  Leah  did.  He  told  her  the  general  drift  of 
comments  regarding  her  child.  The  bitterer  ones 
he  spared,  or  sought  to  spare ;  sometimes  Mrs. 
Romilly  would  detect  their  unspoken  presence  in 
his  mind,  and  plead  for  their  utterance.  They 
usually  reflected  upon  herself,  and  either  Mr. 
Bertie  Forbes  or  Mrs.  Abbott  Fortescue  was  sup- 
posably  at  the  bottom  of  their  propagation.  "Let 
them  sneer  at  my  past  life  as  they  will,"  she  more 
than  once  said.  "  I  do  not  care  for  that,  as  long 
as  they  spare  her  the  least  slander." 

But  Leah  evoked  no  slander.  She  quickly  won 
the  reputation  of  being  extraordinarily  cold. 
The  hate  of  Mrs.  Fortescue  was  always  waiting 
its  chance,  but  none  came.  Bertie  Forbes,  whose 
wife  had  now  asserted  a  very  bold  independence, 
would  have  abetted  Leah's  couchant  detractor  at 
the  slightest  opportunity.  He  was  brimming 
over  with  spleen ;  he  felt  an  accumulating  debt  of 
vengeance  toward  Leah  with  each  new  entertain- 


158  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

ment  at  which  his  wife  aired  what  he  considered 
her  abominably  second-rate  American  manners. 
But  Leah  blunted  his  wrath  as  ice  blunts  wind. 
She  took  Mrs.  Forbes  under  her  especial  care,  and 
saw  that  the  pretty  little  person,  with  her  nasal 
voice,  received  exceedingly  respectful  treatment. 
She  even  went  so  far  as  to  induce  Mrs.  Chichester 
to  smile  upon  her  friend.  This  last  exquisite 
piece  of  mischief — if  it  deserves  no  more  gen 
erous  explanation  —  caused  Bertie  to  gracefully 
succumb.  He  was  so  arrant  a  snob  that  he  could 
no  longer  disdain  a  wife  whom  the  potentate  of 
Newport  had  condescended  to  favor.  Leah  also 
set  herself  another  task  —  though  her  sovereignty 
made  it  too  easy  for  that  term.  She  conceived 
the  idea  of  popularizing  the  Misses  Marksley. 

"They're  a  black  draught,"  said  Tremaine  to 
her  one  day.  "  You  're  a  great  belle,  as  every 
one  knows,  but  you  can't  make  people  swallow 
the  Marksleys." 

But  Leah  differed  with  him.  "  I  shall  try,"  she 
said.  She  did  try,  and  succeeded.  The  Marks- 
leys  issued  invitations  for  an  "evening."  It  crept 
about  that  everybody  would  refuse.  Leah  made 
a  point  of  quietly  publishing  the  certainty  that 
Mrs.  Chichester  and  herself  would  be  present. 

"  And  oh,"  she  once  or  twice  said,  in  loitering 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  159 

afterthought,  "  I  know  of  several  others  who  will 
surely  go.  .  .  .  Let  me  think.  There  is  Mrs. 
Schuyler  Sheldon,  Mrs.  Livingston  Maitland,  and 
Mrs.  Courtlandt  Sinclair."  All  these  ladies  were 
near  kinswomen  of  Mrs.  Chichester,  and  obeyed  the 
mandate  of  their  chieftain.  .  .  .  Leah  knew  that 
she  dealt  with  actualities.  The  Misses  Marksleys' 
"evening*'  was  a  brilliant  success.  The  sisters 
were  lancees  from  that  occasion  thenceforward. 
Their  amusing  struggles  had  ceased  for  ever 
more. 

"You  did  it,"  acknowledged  Tremaine,  after 
ward.  "But  why  did  you  do  it?  From  charity 
or  mere  caprice?  I  confess  that  I  suspect  the 
latter." 

Leah  did  not  tell  him  what  she  actually  more 
than  fancied  —  that  it  was  because  the  Marksley 
sisters  were  inseparably  concerned,  in  her  own 
thoughts,  with  the  first  meeting  between  himself 
and  her. 

Toward  the  close  of  August  her  engagement  to 
Tremaine  was  widely  discussed  as  a  settled  fact. 
It  had  not  been  corroborated  by  a  ceremonious 
announcement,  and  yet  it  was  firmly  believed. 
Other  men  devoted  themselves  to  Leah,  but  none 
with  the  changeless  assiduity  of  Tremaine.  Others, 
too,  began  to  give  way  before  him.  Perhaps  Leah, 


160  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

with  all  her  equanimity  of  demeanor,  could  not 
hide  the  passion  he  had  inspired. 

She  had  met  Mrs.  Fortescue.  Their  meeting 
had  been  a  fatality,  since  both  now  revolved,  as  it 
were,  in  the  same  orbit.  But  Leah  had  been 
decently  polite,  and  no  more ;  she  had  defined  her 
civility  by  a  very  keen  limit.  Mrs.  Fortescue  felt 
the  chill  under  the  thin  surface  of  conventional 
decorum.  It  stung  her,  as  cold  will  often  sting. 

"  That  Chichester  woman  has  done  it,"  she  re 
flected.  "  It  is  she  who  has  set  her  up  to  it.  He 
would  not.  His  role  would  naturally  be  one  of 
silence." 

On  a  certain  evening,  toward  the  close  of  the 
season,  she  appeared  at  a  ball  given  with  much 
splendor  at  a  private  dwelling  of  special  expanse 
and  adornment.  It  was  an  important  ball,  and 
she  chose  to  robe  herself  importantly.  Her  dress 
was  of  crimson  silk,  with  various  ornaments  of 
silver,  one  a  broad,  polished  zone  about  her  waist, 
and  two  more  being  broader  bands  on  either  arm. 
In  her  dead-black  hair  she  wore  some  tiny  butter 
flies,  shaped  of  the  same  metal.  A  number  of 
ladies  pronounced  the  costume  hideous,  but  every 
one  noticed  it,  and  had  an  opinion  concerning  it. 
There  was  no  doubt  that  she  looked  extremely 
well.  The  voluminous  crimson  enshrouding  her 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  161 

figure  suited  her  tawny  coloring  to  perfection. 
For  some  eyes  the  silver  struck  a  note  no  less 
discordant  than  novel,  but  in  a  general  sense  the 
apparel  was  considered  a  striking  success. 

Leah,  dressed  in  simple  white,  with  a  big  knot 
of  roses  in  her  bosom,  sent  by  Tremaine  a  few 
hours  before,  was  also  a  guest  at  the  ball. 

Tremaine  had  not  spoken  to  Mrs.  Fortescue  for 
three  weeks.  But  he  spoke  to  her  that  night. 
Leah  saw  them  leave  the  ball-room  arm-in-arm. 
She  saw  them  a  little  later,  seated  together  on 
a  broad  veranda  that  gave  upon  the  sea.  For 
the  first  time  in  her  life  she  knew  the  sickening 
bitterness  of  jealousy.  When  Tremaine,  toward 
the  end  of  the  evening,  at  length  rejoined  her, 
she  turned  upon  him  a  look  of  freezing  unconcern. 

He  perceived  the  truth.  It  chanced  that  they 
were  presently  standing  alone  together.  Strains 
of  rich  music  sounded  near  them ;  dancers  were 
gliding  across  the  waxed  floor  not  far  off. 

"  It  is  warm  here,"  he  said ;  "  won't  you  come 
out  and  get  a  breath  of  fresh  air  ?  "  She  took  his 
offered  arm. 

They  were  presently  walking  in  the  darkness. 
They  could  not  see  the  ocean,  but  its  salty  waft- 
ures  came  to  them,  and  they  saw  the  stars  shining 
white  and  still  over  its  concealed  immensity.  She 


162  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

had  not,  thus  far,  spoken  to  him.  He  knew  that 
her  having  taken  his  arm  meant  a  surrender 
which  her  pride,  if  once  hurt,  would  have  given 
to  no  man  but  himself. 

"You  are  angry  at  me,"  he  broke  silence ;  "you 
are  angry  at  me  for  talking  with  that  woman. 
People  have  told  you  stupid  things.  But  it 's  all 
nonsense.  I'm  awfully  sorry  you  don't  like  my 
chatting  with  her  even  once  in  a  great  while." 

Leah  withdrew  her  arm.  He  could  just  see  her 
face,  and  no  more. 

Her  voice  broke  palpably  as  she  answered  him. 
Perhaps  she  was  too  agitated  to  know  of  this. 
"I  am  not  angry,"  she  said.  "Why  should  I  care 
if  you  speak  with  some  one  whom  you  like?" 
Then  she  suddenly  added  these  words : 

"What  right  have  I  even  to  think  of  your 
affairs?  I  know  of  no  right.  You  have  given 
me  none." 

"  I  give  you  every  right,"  he  swiftly  said  to  her. 
"  I  give  it  you,  Leah,  because  I  love  you !  " 

She  realized  then  what  she  had  uttered.  She 
paused,  and  he  saw  her  eyes  flash  in  the  dimness. 
"I  —  I  drew  that  forth  from  you ! "  she  stammered. 
"I  —  I  made  you  say  it !  " 

He  put  both  his  hands  about  both  her  own. 
"If  you  did  —  and  I  don't  grant  that  you  did," 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  163 

he  murmured,  "thank  God,  all  the  same,  that  it  is 
true!"  .  .  . 

A  day  or  two  later  all  Newport  rang  with  the 
formal  and  positive  engagement  of  Leah  Romilly 
to  Tracy  Tremaine.  Leah  had  made  peace  with 
her  mother.  Mrs.  Romilly  knew  of  her  daughter's 
love  for  the  man  with  whom  she  had  plighted  troth. 
That  fact  helped  her  to  be  tolerant  and  acquiescent. 
She  even  said  to  Rainsford,  during  one  of  their 
morning  talks,  when  Leah  was  absent : 

"  She  loves  him.  I  am  certain  of  that,  Law 
rence.  For  her  future,  it  may  mean  so  much ! " 

"  Or  so  little  !  "  said  Rainsford. 

She  looked  into  his  grave  face,  which,  as  she 
truly  felt,  hid  an  actual  agony,  and  replied,  "Let 
us  hope  for  the  best.  You  know  what  I  wanted, 
Lawrence.  But  it  cannot  be.  Still,  let  us  hope, 
now,  all  the  same.  I  know  your  heart  is  big  and 
warm  enough  to  do  that.  I  know  that  because 
the  love  she  gives  him  isn't  the  love  she  might 
have  given  you,  a  generous  regard  for  her  happi 
ness  in  the  years  to  come  still  sways  you ! " 

"Yes,"  he  answered,  after  a  pause.  His  face 
was  lowered  as  he  spoke  the  one  little  word.  But 
Elizabeth  Romilly  knew  the  sound  of  it  to  be 
good  and  stanch,  like  its  speaker. 

"  Oh,  Lawrence,"  she  broke  forth,  softly,  "  who 


164  TINKLING  CYMBALS. 

but  you  would  have  pronounced  that  small  but 
pregnant  answer  at  such  a  moment !  "  .  .  . 

It  was  on  this  same  morning,  and  but  a  short 
time  later,  that  a  card  was  handed  to  Mrs.  Rom- 
illy.  The  card  bore  the  name  of  Mrs.  Ogden 
Tremaine.  The  lady  who  desired  to  see  Mrs. 
Romilly,  said  the  servant  who  had  brought  the 
card,  was  waiting  downstairs. 

"It  is  his  mother,"  said  Mrs.  Romilly,  after 
giving  the  card  to  Rainsford.  "I  might  ask  to 
have  her  shown  up  here.  This  little  sitting-room 
will  not  shock  her,  I  suppose?  It  is  better,  for 
such  an  interview  as  that  which  she  intends,  than 
the  public  parlor  below." 

"  Much  better,"  replied  Rainsford,  "  for  such  an 
interview  as  that  which  she  intends." 

Mrs.  Romilly  raised  her  brows.  The  second 
portion  of  this  sentence  seemed  to  startle  her. 
"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  she  questioned. 

Rainsford  had  meanwhile  slowly  risen. 

"You  shall  see,"  he  said.  His  face  never  looked 
more  serious  than  now. 

"  I  shall  see  ?  "  repeated  Mrs.  Romilly,  with  soft 
amazement. 

"  Yes." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"Request  Mrs.  Ogden  Tremaine  to  be  shown 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  165 

here.     I  am  going.     I  shall  not  disturb  your  com 
ing  talk." 

Mrs.  Romilly  spoke  a  few  words  to  the  servant, 
who  at  once  departed  after  hearing  them.  Rains- 
ford  then  took  her  hand.  "  Be  strong  and  brave 
during  this  interview,"  he  said.  "  But  I  need  not 
tell  you  to  be  either  —  you  are  always  both." 
After  he  had  gone,  and  while  she  waited  the  com 
ing  of  her  guest,  Mrs.  Romilly  wondered  what  he 
had  really  meant.  She  soon  had  ample  reason 
for  knowing. 


VIII. 

~T~N  a  very  few  moments  after  the  departure  of 
"  Rainsford,  Mrs.  Romilly  found  herself  face  to 
face  with  a  spare,  faded  woman  of  about  sixty, 
dressed  in  mourning.  She  had  a  narrow,  colorless 
visage,  over  which  the  scant  white  tresses  were 
worn  rolled  backward,  thus  increasing,  if  possible, 
a  natural  expression  of  superciliousness  which 
dwelt  you  could  scarcely  tell  where ;  if  it  had  not 
its  home  in  the  small,  light-tinted  eye,  it  lay  either 
in  the  high,  curving  nose  or  the  shrivelled  mouth, 
whose  lips  were  almost  as  thin  as  paper,  and  loved 
to  close  themselves  in  pursed  tightness  after  the 
delivery  of  each  new  sentence. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  meet  you,  Mrs.  Tremaine," 
said  Leah's  mother.  She  was  about  to  extend  a 
welcoming  hand,  when  something  in  the  lady's 
attitude  prevented  this  gesture — perhaps  a  little 
heightening  of  the  contracted  shoulders,  or  an 
elevation  of  the  slight  head  on  its  slim  support 
of  wrinkled  throat.  Instead  of  offering  her  hand, 
Mrs.  Romilly  made  a  bow,  quiet  and  stately,  while 
pointing  to  a  chair. 
166 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  167 

An  extremely  awkward  pause  followed.  Awk 
ward,  at  least,  for  Mrs.  Tremaine's  hostess,  who 
felt  herself  quietly  devoured  from  head  to  foot  by 
a  stare  which  had  in  it  what  she  began  to  consider 
an  element  of  hard  belligerence.  Both  ladies  were 
now  seated. 

"  We  are  somewhat  near  neighbors,  I  believe," 
again  said  Mrs.  Romilly,  breaking  the  silence  in 
gentle  desperation. 

"  Yes,"  came  the  reply,  accompanied  by  a  faint 
yet  shrill  cough.  "  I  rarely  leave  my  house  ex 
cept  in  a  carriage.  I  live  very  quietly  here.  I  am 
compelled  to  do  so.  My  health  makes  it  abso 
lutely  necessary." 

Mrs.  Romilly  perceived  that  she  was  being  held 
at  arm's-length.  The  tones  of  her  guest  were  as 
inflexible  as  if  all  her  words  were  strung  upon  a 
rod  of  steel. 

"  I  am  very  sorry  to  hear  that  you  are  so  un 
well,"  she  said  ;  and  then,  with  the  motive  of  shat 
tering  what  might  be,  after  all,  but  the  half-timor 
ous  reserve  of  an  invalid,  she  added  :  "  I  think  that 
your  son,  Trac}^  has  more  than  once  mentioned 
your  being  in  ill-health  —  I  mean  before  he  became 
engaged  to  my  daughter.  I  regret,  by  the  way, 
that  she  is  not  in  the  hotel  at  present." 

Mrs.  Tremaine  looked  down  at  the  slender  hands 


168  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

crossed  in  her  lap  and  clad  with  long  gloves  of 
black  kid.  Then  she  raised  her  chilly  little  eyes 
and  said,  resuming  her  stare : 

"  1  know  that  your  daughter  is  not  here.  I  am 
aware  that  she  is  driving  with  my  son.  I  am 
obliged  to  tell  you  that  this  is  my  reason  for  call 
ing  upon  you  now.  Your  daughter's  absence  —  I 
feel  forced  to  say  it  —  gives  me  my  desired  oppor 
tunity." 

Mrs.  Romilly's  doubts  had  vanished.  Here  was 
surely  no  timidity,  no  reserve.  It  looked  more 
like  the  blunt  prelude  of  open  warfare. 

"  Opportunity  ?  "  she  repeated,  and  then  sat  with 
her  calm  brows  raised  and  a  spark  of  inquiry,  but 
not  resentment,  in  her  clear  hazel  eyes. 

"Yes.  That  is  just  the  word.  I  wished  to 
speak  of  this  engagement.  I  wished  to  tell  you 
that  I,  and  that  all  my  connections  —  unusually 
large,  as  you  perhaps  know,  madam  —  must  refuse 
to  sanction  it." 

Mrs.  Romilly  turned  pale.  But  it  was  not  with 
anger.  Her  thoughts  had  flown  to  Leah.  "And 
why  ?  "  she  asked,  with  no  displeased  ring  in  her 
voice. 

Mrs.  Tremaine  started  in  the  aggrieved  way  of  a 
person  with  abnormally  sensitive  nerves.  "  Why  ?  " 
she  iterated,  almost  in  a  plaintive  treble.  Then 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  169 

she  raised  one  dark-sheathed  hand,  and  waved  it 
once  or  twice  before  her  narrow  face.  "  Oh,  pray 
do  not  ask  why.  I  want  this  interview  to  be 
peaceful,  quite  peaceful,  if  you  please.  I  think 
that  you  must  certainly  understand  my  reasons." 

"  Indeed,  I  do  not  understand  them.  I  sincerely 
hope,  however,  that  you  have  sought  me  with  no 
intention  of  insult." 

"Insult!"  repeated  Mrs.  Tremaine.  Her  tones 
were  a  peevish  whine.  "  That  is  the  way  with  you 
people !  One  cannot  even  refer,  before  you,  to 
one's  superior  position,  without  being  accused  of 
insult ! " 

Mrs.  Romilly  rose.  There  was  a  very  sweet 
and  womanly  dignity  in  her  bearing  now,  but  it 
was  quite  lost  upon  the  callous  individuality  she 
addressed. 

"  I  shall  not  inquire  of  you  by  what  right  you 
presume  to  think  your  position  in  any  way  supe 
rior  to  mine  or  that  of  my  daughter,"  she  said, 
with  even  firmness.  "  Such  a  question  would  be 
as  trivial  as  your  own  recent  words  are  vulgar. 
But  I  must  request  you  either  to  make  full  expla 
nation  and  apology  for  what  you  have  just  said,  or 
at  once  to  leave  my  apartment." 

Mrs.  Tremaine  rose  flutteredly  from  her  chair. 
She  was  in  a  visible  tremor.  She  looked  pitiably 


170  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

small   and  mean   beside  the  handsome,  tranquil 
woman  whom  she  now  faced. 

"  Oh,  I  was  prepared  to  find  you  very  clever.  I 
had  heard  of  that.  It  is  your  profession  to  be 
clever.  I  won't  attempt  to  cross  wits  with  you. 
Tracy  has  been  fascinated  by  your  daughter. 
Very  well  —  let  him  marry  out  of  his  set  if  he 
pleases.  But  you  will  gain  nothing,  madam,  by 
such  a  union.  I  think  we  will  none  of  us  acknowl 
edge  it.  I  wished  to  talk  peacefully  with  you,  but 
you  make  that  impossible.  When  I  say  'we'  I 
mean  our  whole  large  family.  The  Tremaines  and 
Tracys  have  been  noted  for  their  sensible  mar 
riages.  We  have  scarcely  had  a  single  mesalliance 
for  four  or  five  generations.  I  shan't  appeal  to 
your  sense  of  justice ;  I  don't  suppose  you  have 
any.  You  want  to  be  received  by  us,  and  that  is 
all.  Such  a  union  is  to  me  horrible  —  horrible! 
I  can't  tell  you  just  how  horrible  I  think  it.  Ours 
is  the  first  family  in  America.  I  was  a  Tremaine 
myself;  I  married  my  second-cousin.  The  Tracys, 
the  Ten  Eycks,  the  Hackensacks,  the  Spuyten- 
duyvils,  the  Van  Corlears,  the  Van  Horns,  the 
Amsterdains,  the  Manhattans  —  they  are  all  more 
or  less  cousins  of  mine,  but  there  is  not  one  of 
them  who  will  not  yield  precedence  to  the  Tre 
maine  blood.  Our  record  stands  alone,  and  speaks 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  171 

for  itself.  We  were  an  illustrious  race  in  Eng 
land  five  hundred  years  ago,  and  since  we  landed 
in  this  country  we  have  produced  statesmen,  gen 
erals,  clergymen,  diplomats  —  all  of  the  very  great 
est  distinction.  And  now  to  think  that  my  son, 
Tracy  —  the  only  child  I  have  left  —  should  marry 
the  daughter  of  a  person  who  used  to  give  public 
lectures  about  all  sorts  of  shocking  subjects !  You 
see,  madam,  I  remember  you.  I  did  not  at  first, 
but  when  I  thought  about  your  full  name,  and  how 
familiar  it  sounded,  I  recollected  how  my  poor  dead 
papa  once  whipped  my  poor  dead  brother,  Ten 
Eyck,  for  going  when  a  boy  to  hear  you  say  your 
horrid  things  against  religion  and  matrimony,  and 
all  that  decent  people  hold  most  sacred!  And 
now  I  must  endure  seeing  Tracy  link  his  name 
with  yours !  Oh,  if  you  have  the  least  shame  left, 
you  ought  to  help  me  save  him  !  " 

Mrs.  Romilly  was  still  paler  than  before,  but  a 
smile  touched  her  lips  as  this  unforeseen  outburst 
ended.  And  her  voice  never  faltered  from  its  ad 
mirable  composure  as  she  said : 

"  It  is  very  sad  for  me  to  witness  how  the  ances 
tors  of  whom  you  boast  have  produced  a  descend 
ant  so  unworthy  of  their  distinction  —  a  person, 
in  fact,  without  the  common  rudiments  of  good 
breeding."  Here  her  wide,  fair  brow  grew  cloudy 


172  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

and  her  voice  took  a  stern  note.  "  I  have  no  more 
to  say,  and  shall  permit  you  to  say  no  more  in  my 
hearing.  If  you  do  not  instantly  leave  this  room, 
Mrs.  Tremaine,  I  shall  myself  retire  from  it." 

She  passed  toward  a  door  that  communicated 
with  her  bedchamber,  and  placed  her  hand  upon 
its  knob.  If  she  had  heard  a  sound  from  the 
wan,  quivering  lips  of  the  woman  whose  insolence 
had  just  met  her  rebuke,  she  would  have  disap 
peared  at  once.  As  it  was  she  had  not  long  to 
await  Mrs.  Tremaine's  departure.  .  .  . 

Leah  returned  from  her  drive  about  an  hour 
later.  She  had  taken  off  her  hat  and  was  swing 
ing  it  carelessly  by  the  strings,  as  she  entered  the 
presence  of  her  mother.  The  air  had  given  her 
cheeks  a  pink  flush,  and  disordered  her  gold  hair 
about  forehead  and  temples ;  but  it  was  something 
else  that  had  put  so  rich  a  sparkle  into  her  brown 
eyes  and  softened  the  outline  of  her  lips  as  though 
a  coming  smile  had  cast  its  shadow  before.  Only 
a  brief  while  ago  the  change  in  her  had  appealed 
piercingly  to  Mrs.  Romilly.  It  was  like  that  time 
in  the  life  of  a  rosebud  when  the  coil  of  its  balmy 
leaves  will  so  loosen  and  relax  that  if  you  watch 
closely  you  can  see  new  interspaces  for  the  breeze 
to  search  or  the  dew  to  brim,  while  the  heart  of 
the  flower  itself  still  remains  jealously  screened. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  173 

It  seemed  to  her  mother  as  if  Leah  would  never 
be  proud  again.  All  her  spiritual  lines  appeared 
to  have  lost  their  rigidity  and  to  have  become 
curves.  Her  wit  would  flash  as  of  old,  but  it 
rarely  stung.  Humanity  held  a  new  meaning  for 
her;  she  felt  kinned  to  its  large  throbs  of  love 
and  hope,  and  more  indulgent  of  its  faults,  with 
out  pausing  to  consider  why.  There  are  two  great 
gateways  through  which  our  chief  woes  enter  the 
world ;  they  are  love  and  death ;  yet  the  foot 
prints  of  each  are  sympathy,  and  were  these 
blotted  from  off  the  earth  it  is  hard  to  tell  what 
giant  evils  would  spring  up  in  their  place. 

Leah  had  laid  one  hand  on  her  mother's  wrist 
before  she  detected  that  anything  was  wrong ;  and 
even  then  her  misgiving  was  not  defined. 

"  We  had  such  a  lovely  drive,"  she  said.  "  Not 
by  the  sea,  this  morning,  but  along  country  roads, 
you  know.  I  shall  be  so  sorry  to  leave  here. 
But  our  time  is  nearly  up.  Tracy  says  that  they 
all  rush  back  home  by  the  first  of  September." 

"  I  think  we  had  better  go  before  then,  Leah. 
I  should  like  to  go  to-morrow." 

"  Something  has  happened,  mamma ! "  exclaimed 
Leah,  peering  into  her  mother's  face  with  startled 
gaze. 

"Yes,    something    has    happened.      Don't    be 


174  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

alarmed,  child.  Sit  down  here  at  my  side,  and  I 
will  tell  you  everything.  I  believe  I  can  repeat  it 
word  for  word." 

She  did,  almost.  Leah  shivered  once  or  twice 
during  the  recital.  She  held  her  mother's  hand, 
pressing  it  tensely  all  the  time.  Then,  at  the  end, 
she  rose  and  walked  to  a  window,  staring  straight 
out  upon  the  shaded  street  below.  Her  face,  just 
glimpsed  by  Mrs.  Romilly  before  she  averted  it, 
was  fixed  and  hueless. 

Suddenly  she  spoke,  turning  toward  her  mother. 

"  You  don't  advise  me  to  break  the  engagement, 
do  you  ?  "  she  asked.  There  was  a  wistful  wild- 
ness  in  her  look.  "  You  can't  advise  that !  He 
loves  me.  I  know  it !  I  know  it  so  well !  He 
has  told  me  about  her.  Is  she  to  ruin  our  happi 
ness  ?  Answer  me,  mamma !  I  am  confused  —  I 
don't  know  what  ought  to  be  done  !  I  have  been 
very  wilful  with  you,  often  and  often.  But  now 
I  have  no  wish  to  do  otherwise  than  you  say. 
You  are  so  strong  —  you  remember  how  strong 
and  splendid  I  always  thought  you  !  Oh,  mamma, 
I  leave  everything  to  you  !  " 

Leah  put  both  arms  forward  as  the  last  sentence 
left  her  lips.  Her  mother  had  risen,  and  was  ap 
proaching  her.  During  those  few  short  moments 
memory  was  busy  in  this  mother's  mind.  She  saw 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  175 

Leah  as  a  little  child,  clinging  to  her  because  of 
some  fancied  grief  or  terror.  Her  great  heart 
quivered  under  the  stress  of  motherhood  —  that 
lovely  force  which  transcends  all  other  human 
emotions. 

When  she  reached  Leah  she  took  the  girl  in  her 
arms,  and  put  her  head  upon  one  shoulder,  smooth 
ing  its  tossed  hair,  before  Leali  herself  could  lay  it 
there.  And  then  she  felt  the  form  that  she  was 
clasping  sway  and  pulsate.  Very  soon  afterward 
there  came  a  storm  of  sobs. 

"  Oh,  mamma,  my  own,  dear,  strong,  fine  mam 
ma,  tell  me  —  tell  me  what  it  is  right  that  I  should 
do!" 

"  This  is  right,  Leah,"  came  the  answer,  which 
cost  the  speaker  no  slight  effort  to  give :  "  We 
will  go  back  to  New  York  soon  —  to-morrow,  or 
perhaps  next  day.  You  will  see  Mr.  Tremaine  to 
night.  The  wedding  must  take  place  at  once. 
I  think  it  had  best  take  place  at  once  —  or 
not  at  all.  .  .  .  There,  my  love,  don't  be  so 
distressed.  It  shall  take  place.  We  owe  it  to  our 
selves  to  despise  this  coarse  treatment.  He  will 
be  ashamed  —  yes,  I  am  certain  that  he  will.  Why 
should  you  really  care?  You  love  him,  and  you 
tell  me  that  he  loves  you.  That  will  be  enough. 
I  will  stand  by  you,  darling.  Oh,  I  am  sure  that 


176  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

you  feel  and  realize  that!  .  .  .  Stop  sobbing  so, 
Leah.  .  .  .  Why  should  you  care  what  a  child! si i 
old  woman  has  said?  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  tell 
you  all.  I  could  not  keep  anything  back.  But 
you  know  that  nothing  can  ever  part  you  and  me. 
If  he  really  loves  you,  and  will  be  a  man,  a  gentle 
man  — as  you  say  he  is  —  then  this  little  bitter  expe 
rience  will  prove  only  the  beginning  of  a  happiness 
which  I,  too,  shall  feel  nearly  as  much  as  yourself, 
watching  it,  rejoicing  in  it,  believing  in  it,  dearest, 
because  it  is  yours !  "  .  .  . 

.  That  same  evening  Tremaine  made  his  appear 
ance.  Mrs.  Romilly  was  not  present  when  they 
met.  Leah  could  scarcely  keep  back  her  tears,  at 
first.  They  strolled  together  along  the  vague 
outer  street,  where  the  dusky  tree-boughs  waved 
and  rustled  below  the  shining  stars.  Leah  told 
him  everything.  He  listened  without  a  word  till 
he  had  heard  all.  Then  he  said,  very  tenderly : 

"  Leah,  I  am  so  sorry !  What  can  I  do  ?  This 
thing  is  mother's  mania,  and  I  regret  to  add  that 
nearly  all  the  Tremaines  are  possessed  with  the 
same  madness.  What  she  said  to  your  mother 
was  frightful  —  infamous !  I  won't  deny  to  you 
that  it  has  serious  significance.  I  don't  think  that 
this  country  contains  a  more  shocking  set  of  snobs 
than  my  own  family.  They  are  all  banded  to- 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  177 

gether  by  the  one  ruling  idea  —  their  own  birth. 
There 's  no  doubt  that  we  have  it.  If  we  did  n't 
their  nonsense  would  be  more  excusable ;  there 
would  be  a  certain  pitiable  braggadocio  about  it. 
.  .  .  Regarding  those  remarks  made  to  your 
mother,  I  have  no  way  of  expressing  my  disgust 
for  them.  But  surely,  Leah,  you  can't  dream  that 
it  will  ever  make  any  real  difference  between  you 
and  me !  Let  the  whole  clan  rise  up  against  us. 
Why  should  we  care  ?  We  will  not  care.  Leah, 
nothing  on  earth  shall  part  us !  I  am  ashamed  of 
my  race.  I  beg  you  to  despise  this  abominable 
treatment.  Good  God  !  /  am  not  to  blame  for  it. 
Don't  hold  me  blamable !  If  you  want,  I  will 
never  speak  to  any  member  of  my  family  who 
does  not  recognize  and  receive  your  mother  and 
yourself! "... 

Two  days  later  Mrs.  Romilly  and  Leah  left 
Newport.  Meanwhile  Rainsford  had  heard  from 
the  former  just  what  had  passed. 

"  He  has  made  every  possible  concession,  Law 
rence,"  she  had  said.  "  He  hates  the  indignity 
offered  me.  He  has  behaved  very  well.  His 
mother's  line  of  action  pains  him  beyond  measure. 
They  both  wish  the  wedding  to  be  soon.  I,  too, 
think  it  best.  We  shall  have  a  very  quiet  wed 
ding.  Every  member  of  Tracy  Tremaine's  family 


178  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

shall  receive  cards ;  he  will  give  rue  the  list  of  all 
his  kindred,  and  I  shall  omit  none.  Afterward  it 
can  be  seen  just  what  course  they  all  intend  to 
take." 

"  They  will  all  take  one  course,"  said  Rainsford, 
in  his  slow,  thoughtful  way.  "  At  least,  I  imagine 
so.  They  usually  stand  by  each  other.  Their 
pride  of  name  is  something  preposterous.  Yes,  I 
think  it  quite  probable  that  they  will  all,  in  a 
disdainful  body,  refuse  to  be  present." 

But  Rainsford  was  in  error  here.  Three  weeks 
later  the  wedding  occurred  at  Mrs.  Romilly's  small 
and  pretty  residence  in  Thirty -Fourth  Street. 
Tracy  Tremaine  had  power  enough  with  not  a 
few  of  his  relations  to  induce  their  attendance. 
Without  exception  they  all  disliked  the  marriage. 
But  in  the  sense  of  practically  recognizing  or 
ignoring  it,  the  house  of  Tremaine  was  for  once 
divided  against  itself.  Four  or  five  of  his  aunts, 
as  many  more  uncles,  and  not  a  few  cousins,  con 
descended  to  witness  the  ceremony.  It  was  all  a 
most  bitter  ordeal  for  Mrs.  Romilly.  Not  even 
the  look  of  supreme  happiness  on  Leah's  face 
could  dispel  the  regretful  ache  that  lurked  dull 
and  unaltering  in  her  heart.  She  felt  that  her 
daughter  was  passing  forth  into  paths  of  hazard 
and  venture.  The  more  that  she  saw  of  Tracy 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  179 

Tremaine  the  less  she  believed  in  him.  That  he 
passionately  loved  Leah  she  could  not  doubt.  But 
she  distrusted  his  matrimonial  future  with  Leah 
for  a  wife.  The  girl  was  blinded  by  her  love  to 
all  Tremaine's  faults.  She  insisted  on  thinking 
him  an  almost  perfect  man.  The  awakening  must 
ultimately  come.  She  must  one  day  realize  that 
his  whole  nature  was  set  in  a  key  of  meretricious 
vanity.  Leah  would  soon  demand  and  not  re 
ceive.  She  would  reap  a  deadly  harvest  of  disap 
pointments.  The  glitter  of  fashionable  life  would 
soon  lose  its  charm  for  her.  She  would  see  dross 
and  tinsel  where  she  now  saw  gold  and  gems. 

"With  Rainsford,"  she  thought,  "all  would 
have  been  so  different !  Every  new  year  would 
have  brought  its  precious  income  of  increased 
contentment.  His  love  would  have  been  to  her 
like  an  arm  on  which  we  lean  at  first  lightly,  then 
a  little  harder,  and  at  last  grow  to  treasure  as  an 
inestimable  supporting  strength !  " 

Rainsford  was  absent  from  the  wedding.  To 
have  appeared  would  have  cost  him  agony,  and  at 
the  suggestion  of  Mrs.  Romilly  herself  he  made 
the  excuse  of  being  called  to  Boston,  where  he 
remained  for  several  subsequent  weeks.  He  sent 
Leah  a  gift  of  value,  accompanied  merely  by  the 
conventional  card. 


180  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

It  had  been  arranged  that  mother  and  daughter 
should  now  live  apart.  The  separation  gave  Mrs. 
Romilly  many  pangs,  acute  though  secret.  And 
yet  she  told  herself  that  this  plan  was  by  far  the 
best.  Tremaiue  did  not  like  her;  he  had  more 
than  once  shown  her  so  by  his  elaborate  attempts 
to  conceal  the  aversion.  Why  had  it  arisen? 
With  silent  misery  she  again  and  again  asked  her 
self  that  question.  For  Leah's  sake  this  admira 
ble  woman  would  have  made  almost  any  concilia 
tory  overtures.  But  Tremaine  prevented  such  a 
step.  He  was  constantly  making  overtures  him 
self;  and  these  were  so  severe  in  their  studied 
civility  as  to  lift  a  perpetual  barrier  against  less 
formal  terms. 

If  Leah  guessed  the  truth,  she  strove  to  give  no 
signs  of  having  done  so. 

"I  have  yielded  to  Tracy's  desire  about  our 
renting  a  separate  house,"  she  said,  a  little  before 
the  wedding,  "because  it  most  probably  springs 
from  his  intense  fondness.  He  wants  to  see  me 
the  mistress  of  my  own  establishment.  Well,  for 
my  part,  you  must  know,  mamma,  dear,  that  I 
should  like  always  to  have  you  with  me.  But  we 
shall  see  each  other  every  day ;  of  course  I  shall 
be  very  particular  on  that  point.  Tracy  will  pre 
fer  it,  too.  I  am  sure  that  he  likes  you  very 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  181 

much.  You  have  not  any  doubts  of  that,  mamma, 
have  you?" 

"  Oh,  of  course  not,  my  dear." 

On  another  occasion  (still  previous  to  her  mar 
riage)  Leah  said :  "  Mamma,  you  never  speak  of 
my  leaving  you  alone.  Now,  tell  me  —  tell  me 
candidly :  are  you  not  sorry  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  wish  to  be  sorry  if  you  are  not,  my 
daughter." 

"What  an  answer!"  cried  Leah.  Her  eyes 
flashed,  as  if  in  anger,  but  the  next  moment  they 
were  filled  with  tears.  She  put  her  arms  about 
Mrs.  Romilly's  neck;  she  was  getting  to  make 
these  tender  revelations  far  oftener  than  ever 
before. 

"I  've  been  deceiving  you  ! "  she  said,  while  her 
voice  broke.  "  I  've  made  you  think  that  it  will 
give  me  no  pain.  This  is  not  true.  But  Tracy 
wishes  it ;  I  must  yield  to  him,  you  know.  It 
would  be  such  a  bad  beginning  if  I  did  not.  Be 
sides,  is  n't  it  only  just  and  fair  that  he  should 
like  to  rule  in  his  own  house?  Of  course  you 
would  rule  here  ;  this  house  is  yours.  I  'm  afraid 
I  've  done  a  great  deal  of  the  ruling  heretofore  ; 
and  you  've  let  me,  without  a  murmur.  Oh, 
mamma,  I  fear  I  have  been  dreadfully  wayward 
and  headstrong !  I  feel  it  so  keenly  now,  when 


182  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

our  dear  old  life  together  is  going  to  end !  Tins 
thought  sometimes  makes  me  very  miserable  in 
spite  of  all  my  happiness.  And  I  am  happy  — 
that  is,  most  of  the  time.  I  read  you  so  clearly ; 
you  don't  suspect  that  I  do,  but  I  do.  You  blame 
me  in  your  own  heart  for  putting  such  faith  in 
Tracy.  You  can't  bring  yourself  to  trust  him  as 
I  trust  him.  Oh,  but  you  are  quite  wrong !  He 
will  prove  that  you  are.  He  worships  me.  We 
are  going  to  be  a  model  husband  and  wife.  We 
are  not  going  to  live  for  fashion  at  all ;  we  shall 
have  a  few  nice  social  friends,  and  dine  with  them 
now  and  then,  or  get  them  to  dine  with  us.  But 
we  are  not  going  to  any  of  the  big  affairs.  We 
are  both  a  little  tired  of  the  whirl.  Of  course  he 
has  seen  years  more  of  it  than  I  have  seen.  But 
I  told  him  only  last  night  that  I  had  begun  to  be 
a  good  deal  disillusioned.  I  spoke  as  boldly  as 
you  please — yes,  truly  I  did  !  I  told  Tracy  that 
these  fine  people  were  not  a  bit  what  I  had  first 
supposed  them.  I  said  that  many  of  them  struck 
me  as  merely  conducting  themselves  with  an  air  — 
that  it  was  all  in  their  air  —  that  behind  the  air 
there  was  nothing  a  particle  different  from  the 
principles  and  habits  of  persons  whom  they  would 
sneer  at  as  vulgar,  and  not  fit  to  walk  the  same 
floors  with  them  !  " 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  183 

"  So  soon !  "  thought  Mrs.  Romilly.  "  It  was 
sure  to  come,  and  now  it  is  here !  This  pure 
young  spirit  is  finding  out  its  mistake  more 
quickly  than  I  expected,  with  all  my  ominous 
forebodings." 

But  aloud  she  said  nothing,  and  Leah  hurried 
on,  as  though  she  were  making  a  swift  confession 
that  some  new  mood  of  reticence  lay  in  wait  to 
interrupt. 

"  I  fancied  Tracy  would  be  annoyed,  mamma  — 
he  has  lived  so  long  in  this  atmosphere,  you  know. 
It  was  rude  and  reckless  of  me  —  at  least,  I  feared 
he  would  think  so.  But  he  surprised  me  by 
agreeing  with  me.  I  was  so  glad  that  he  did. 
And  then  he  spoke  so  charmingly.  He  said  that 
it  was  all  sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cymbals. 
We  laughed  together  over  that  phrase.  It  hits 
off  so  many  people  whom  we  have  both  met  in 
Newport.  I  couldn't  help  but  reflect  that  per 
haps  the  worst  tinkling  cymbal  of  them  all.  was 
his  own  mother.  But,  of  course,  I  didn't  say  so. 
I  felt  how  her  outrageous  actions  have  made  him 
suffer  ...  and  I  never  mean  to  notice  her  unless 
Tracy  should  specially  ask  it,  and  she  herself 
should  specially  ask  as  well." 

Leah  need  not  have  made  this  latter  proviso. 
Mrs.  Tremaine  failed  to  solicit  the  acquaintance 


184  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

of  her  daughter-in-law.  If  a  monomaniac,  she  at 
least  remained  a  consistent  one.  But  monomania 
would  doubtless  too  charitably  have  defined  her 
conduct.  This  had  rather  emanated  from  another 
quite  explainable  source  —  a  meagre  intellect, 
acted  upon  by  massive  inherited  prejudice.  She 
stood  in  her  day  and  her  country  as  a  dreary 
anomaly,  a  pitiful,  discouraging  contradiction. 
That  she  could  exist  at  all  in  a  land  bought  from 
monarchism  with  blood,  and  consecrated  by  great 
dead  patriots  to  a  very  beautiful  future,  meant,  if 
it  had  any  meaning,  some  fatal  national  weakness. 
Such  Americans  as  Mrs.  Tremaine  are  either  a 
disease  or  a  development.  If  the  first,  they  chal 
lenge  cure;  if  the  second,  they  prophesy  disaster. 


IX. 

T  EAH'S  wedding-tour  lasted  nearly  a  month. 
~^  She  wrote  to  her  mother  very  regularly 
during  this  interval  of  separation,  and  every  letter 
breathed  of  perfect  happiness.  When  husband 
and  wife  returned,  they  went  at  once  to  their  new 
residence.  It  was  small,  but  charmingly  ap 
pointed.  They  had  made  certain  economical  cal 
culations,  and  had  decided  that  their  present 
income  would  permit  of  only  judicious  expendi 
tures.  Both  were  amazed,  a  little  later,  to  find 
that  Mrs.  Romilly  had  taken  a  most  decisive  step. 

She  had  ceased  to  rent  the  house  in  which  she 
and  Leah  had  dwelt  for  a  number  of  past  years. 
She  had  engaged  apartments  in  a  boarding-house 
adjacent  to  Fifth  Avenue,  and  near  her  daughter's 
new  home.  And  she  had  done  this  for  a  reason 
which  Leah  too  well  understood  when  a  cheque  of 
no  mean  amount  was  put  into  her  unwilling  hand. 

"  Yes,  Leah,"  came  the  soft  yet  insistent  words. 
"I  had  no  use  for  the  house  all  to  myself.  I  shall 
be  thoroughly  comfortable  in  those  other  quarters. 

185 


186  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

Every  year  you  shall  receive  just  the  same  amount 
that  I  have  now  given  you.  Remember,  it  was 
your  father's  money.  Some  day  all  must  be  yours. 
I  shall  have  my  books;  I  shall  live  in  complete 
comfort.  But  you,  presiding  over  a  larger  house 
hold,  will,  of  course,  need  larger  resources.  .  .  ." 

That  same  evening  the  first  shadow  crept  over 
Leah's  devout  love  for  her  husband.  They  had 
dined  together,  and  laughingly  discussed  the 
somewhat  lame  way  in  which  their  new  menage, 
with  its  new  servants  and  its  general  tentative 
atmosphere,  had  thus  far  thriven.  But  presently 
Leah  had  referred  to  her  mother's  generosity. 

"It  will  make  matters  so  much  easier  for  us, 
Tracy,"  she  said.  And  then  she  looked  with  sud 
den  fixity  into  his  face,  while  he  sat  close  at  her 
side,  smoking  the  cigarette  that  she  liked  to  have 
him  smoke  almost  any  time  in  her  presence,  be 
cause  he  was  fond  of  it. 

"  Oh,  Tracy,"  she  broke  forth,  "  I  am  so  sure 
that  mamma  would  love  one  thing  to  happen, 
above  all  others  !  " 

"  What?  "  he  asked,  with  a  slight  start. 

"  She  would  love  to  have  you  ask  her  to  come 
and  live  with  us.  I  mean,  if  she  thought  you 
really  meant  it,  —  if  she  thought  I  had  n't  induced 
you  to  make  the  request." 


TINKLING    CYMBALS.  187 

He  was  silent  for  some  time,  while  her  eyes 
dwelt  on  his  profile.  Then  he  said,  with  crisp 
brevity : 

"  I  don't  mean  to  ask  her." 

Leah  bit  her  lip.  "  Tracy  !  "  she  exclaimed,  in 
reproach,  "  you  speak  as  if  you  disliked  mamma ! 
Do  you?" 

"  I  dislike  the  idea  of  having  her  live  with  us. 
That  is  all."  Leah  fancied  that  she  saw  coldness 
in  the  look  which  he  now  turned  full  upon  her 
saddened  countenance ;  and  she  had  never  even 
remotely  had  this  fancy  before.  He  was  smiling, 
however,  as  he  proceeded : 

"I  supposed  the  matter  quite  settled.  If  you 
persist  in  reviving  it,  I  must  assume  that  you  place 
too  slight  an  estimate  on  my  opinion  of  what  is 
most  advisable." 

"  No,  Tracy  —  not  that !  "  began  Leah  ;  "  I "  — 

But  he  at  once  rose,  the  smile  leaving  his  hand 
some  face. 

"  I  shall  not  be  able  to  argue  the  question  with 
you,"  he  said. 

And  then  she  knew  that  she  had  offended  him, 
and  was  miserable  while  he  stood  examining  some 
new  books,  which  lay  disordered  on  a  near  table, 
not  yet  having  been  shelved  in  proper  fashion. 
But  soon  afterward  he  broke  silence  in  ordinary 


188  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

tones  on  some  ordinary  topic.  Mrs.  Chichester,  a 
few  days  later,  sent  them  an  invitation  to  one  of 
her  ceremonious  dinners.  The  invitation  (all 
except  their  own  name  and  the  date)  was  en 
graved  on  heavy  white  paper  that  bore  arms  and 
crest. 

"  I  will  write  our  refusal  to-morrow,"  said  Leah, 
in  a  matter-of-course  way. 

"  Our  refusal !  "  echoed  Tremaine.  "  What  can 
you  possibly  mean  ?  " 

"  Why,"  returned  Leah  surprisedly,  "  did  we 
not  both  agree  that  we  were  to  go  very  little  into 
society  ?  " 

He  laughed. 

"  What  a  memory  you  have  !  "  he  said. 

"Do  you  mean  that  you  want  to  go?"  she 
asked,  prepared  at  once  to  give  her  own  acqui 
escence. 

"  Enormously,"  he  replied.  "  It  is  best  to  break 
that  resolve  in  a  gradual  way,  and  not  wait  for  the 
sudden  rupture  of  it  that  is  certain  to  come.  No 
human  honeymoon  ever  yet  lasted  forever,  and  I 
don't  imagine  that  ours  will  prove  an  exception." 

His  words  were  softly  jocular,  but  she  felt  a  stab 
of  fright  pierce  her  as  she  heard  them,  and  knew 
that  she  was  growing  pale.  A  moment  later  she 
told  herself  that  such  serious  interpretation  was 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  189 

folly ;  but  while  the  beats  of  her  own  heart 
sounded  in  her  ears,  the  quiet  voice  of  Tremaine 
sounded  above  them. 

"Besides,  you  know,  Mrs.  Chichester's  dinner- 
invitations  do  not  usually  go  begging.  It  is  not 
customary  to  refuse  them  except  for  a  very  good 
reason ;  and  I  don't  think  that  we  have  even  a  bad 
one." 

"  We  have  one  that  I  thought  would  seem  excel 
lent,"  answered  Leah,  steadying  her  voice.  "  We 
had  both  decided  that  a  life  of  fashion  after  mar 
riage  would  suit  neither.  Jhad  seen  enough  of  it, 
even  during  my  brief  experience,  —  and  what  you 
said  made  me  confident  that  you  were  sincerely 
fatigued." 

"  Oh,  I  have  been  taking  a  rest,"  he  answered, 
with  another  laugh.  That  laugh,  amiable  though 
it  was,  had  an  edge  with  a  cruel  cut  in  it. 

They  went  to  Mrs.  Chichester's  dinner,  and  to 
many  more  of  equal  or  lesser  splendor  through 
succeeding  weeks.  Leah  constantly  saw  her 
mother,  but  often  their  meetings  were  snatched 
from  the  claims  engendered  by  frequent  festivi 
ties.  She  had  her  visiting-book,  her  "day,"  her 
calls  of  courtesy.  Meanwhile  she  was  popular 
as  ever,  and  firmly  placed  by  her  marriage  on  a 
level  with  the  most  "careful"  sets.  But  Mrs. 


190  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

Romilly  had  divined,  some  time  ago,  a  weariness 
in  Leah  no  less  manifest  than  were  her  efforts  to 
conceal  it.  This  weariness  did  not  mar  her  beauty, 
still  fresh  and  captivating  ;  it  was  mental,  not  phys 
ical,  and  therefore  the  mother's  almost  clairvoy 
ant  eye  detected  it  while  wholly  elusive  for  others. 
Leah's  step  was  elastic  as  of  old ;  her  neat-clinging, 
quick-rustling  robes  ensheathed  or  draped  her 
flexible  figure  in  faultless  unison  with  its  lines  and 
movements ;  she  had  lost  that  assertion  which  once 
marked  the  pose  of  her  small  head  on  its  slender 
yet  queenly  shoulders ;  she  had  the  tamed  look  of 
a  bird  that  has  been  taught  repose  though  not 
inured  to  durance ;  she  was  no  longer  maidenly 
in  mien  or  gesture ;  and  yet  no  actual  touch  of 
matronhood  had  rounded  or  relaxed  her  still 
girlish  delicacy. 

Mrs.  Romilly  waited  for  some  avowal,  but  she 
waited  a  long  time  before  any  came.  At  length 
she  one  day  tempted  it  by  saying : 

"  Do  you  enjoy  all  this  excess  of  gayety,  Leah  ?  " 
"  No,  mamma,"  was  the  slow  reply ;  and  as  Leah 
spoke  she  drooped  her  eyes. 

"Then  why  do  you  let  it  hurry  you  along?" 
"  I  do  so  on  Tracy's  account.    He  wants  it.    He 
thinks  it  best.     He  thinks  it  right.  " 

Mrs.  Romilly  repeated  this  answer  to  Rainsford, 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  191 

with  whom  she  still  had  her  long  talks,  and  whom 
Leah  rarely  saw.  He  had  won  added  distinction 
in  his  art.  Money,  for  which  he  had  not  real 
need,  had  flowed  in  to  him,  and  with  it  a  fair 
share  of  no  despicable  fame. 

"  He  has  shown  her  his  shallow  soul,"  said 
Kainsford.  "  She  understands  that  what  she 
thought  so  durable,  so  individual  about  him  was 
the  merest  veneer.  And  she  has  made  this  dis 
covery  regarding  him  as  a  kind  of  sarcastic  ter 
minus  to  the  other  discoveries  made  regarding 
those  vainglorious  worldlings  among  whom  she 
first  met  him." 

"But  she  is  still  fond  of  him,  Lawrence.  I  am 
sure  of  that." 

"  You  would  not  know  it  if  she  had  ceased  to 
be  —  at  least,  not  for  a  long  time,"  he  added. 
44  But  you  may  be  right.  I  am  ready  to  grant  that 
her  love,  when  once  given,  is  of  the  inalienable 
sort  —  or  should  be  !  " 

After  more  than  a  year  of  marriage,  Leah  began 
to  assume  a  course  of  strange  reticence  toward  her 
mother  respecting  Tremaine.  Mrs.  Romilly  had 
occasionally  dined  with  them  .at  first,  but  of  late 
she  had  received  no  invitation  to  do  so.  She  felt 
that  her  son-in-law  was  alone  concerned  in  the  ces 
sation  of  these  requests.  But  she  made  no  in- 


192  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

quiry  of  Leah.  Perhaps  it  was  solely  because  she 
dreaded  to  receive  the  wounding  truth.  She  sel 
dom  met  Tremaine.  When  they  did  encounter 
each  other,  she  had  no  fault,  and  yet  every  fault, 
to  find  with  the  clean  exactitude  of  his  urbanity. 

But  Leah  had  been  reticent  in  other  ways.  The 
absolute  selfishness  of  her  husband  had  now  be 
come  as  well-known  to  her  as  the  wretchedness 
which  this  final  realization  caused.  He  had  not  a 
personal  whim,  howsoever  slight,  to  which  he  did 
not,  as  time  wore  on,  demand  unqualified  alle 
giance.  She  nearly  always  gave  it;  she  even  tried 
at  first  to  justify  it;  she  hated  to  face  the  bare 
ruin  of  her  own  charming  ideal.  For  a  long  time 
her  very  pride  made  her  uniformly  compliant ;  it 
was  so  hard  to  admit  that  she  had  been  entirely 
deceived  in  him !  But  at  length  a  most  brutal 
shock  came  to  her.  Rudely  enough  her  eyes  were 
opened  to  what  she  deemed  a  horrifying  fact.  .  .  . 
"I  will  not  tell  mamma,"  she  reflected,  after  the 
first  misery  of  her  new  knowledge  had  passed. 
"  And  perhaps  it  will  never  happen  again.  He 
says  it  has  very  seldom  happened  in  his  life.  .  .  . 
Very  seldom,"  she  repeated  aloud,  quoting  his  own 
words  with  a  shudder,  and  feeling  the  stinging 
sense  of  what  it  was  that  had  happened. 

His  mornings  were  usually  spent  at  one  of  the 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  193 

two  or  three  clubs  to  which  he  belonged,  and  often 
his  afternoons  as  well.  When  they  dined  alone 
together,  and  there  was  no  engagement  which, 
called  them  both  from  home  afterward,  he  would 
now  nearly  always  leave  the  house,  often  not  re 
turning  until  the  small  hours.  At  such  times 
she  was  given  to  understand  that  he  was  "  at  the 
club ; "  but  she  did  not  know  which  club,  and 
more  than  once,  on  inquiry,  had  received  answers 
of  such  laconic  rebuff  that  there  seemed  almost 
a  slight  and  a  slur  in  them. 

The  plain  truth  is  that  Tremaine  now  frequently 
drank  to  excess.  Leah  had  only  seen  him  on  a 
single  occasion  when  wine  held  him  well  in  its 
degrading  grip,  and  perhaps  the  affright  and  tears 
which  she  had  then  shown  had  repeatedly,  since 
being  forced  to  confront  and  console  both,  made 
him  wary  about  the  hour  of  certain  home-com 
ings. 

His  vice  was  of  the  sort  which  sometimes  over 
takes,  abruptly  and  almost  unawares,  men  of  pre 
cisely  his  character  and  temperament.  They  ap 
pear  the  last  men  of  whom  one  would  prophesy 
any  such  downfall.  They  have  drifted  into  the 
habit  of  taking  stimulants  freely  —  indeed,  too 
freely  —  at  certain  convivial  times.  They  are 
seen  intoxicated  after  a  " stag "  dinner;  they  are 


194  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

known  to  have  sat  late  over  jovial  beakers ;  they 
have  been  observed  unsteadily  to  hail  cabs  near 
dawn  at  the  doors  of  their  select  clubs.  But  no 
one  accuses  them  of  any  overt  inebriety.  It  is  an 
intemperance  very  temperately  condoned.  " Every 
man  does  it  now  and  then,"  runs  the  facile  com 
ment,  and  that  they  are  constantly  met,  morning 
and  afternoon,  in  spotless  broadcloth  and  with  no 
thirst  more  compromising  than  one  which  a  mod 
erate  potion  can  satisfy,  is  a  fact  fit  to  blunt  suspi 
cion  and  put  friendly  warning  in  the  light  of  an 
impertinence.  Besides,  tliey  are  such  cold-blooded 
sorts  of  fellows.  A  hundred  tongues,  even  among 
those  associates  whom  their  frigid  conventionalism 
has  most  suited,  and  their  patrician  nonchalance 
most  pleased,  are  always  prompt  to  quote  these 
traits  of  imperturbation  as  special  safeguards  against 
real  danger.  But  for  just  such  men  —  decorous, 
aristocratic,  indolent,  and  beset  with  a  worship  of 
form  and  caste, — will  now  and  then  lurk  a  vigilant 
fury  who  has  fashioned  her  scourge  out  of  their 
own  egotism.  They  have  for  years  kindled  a  flame 
before  the  god  of  Self,  and  one  day  the  flame  leaps 
devouringly  into  their  own  faces.  They  have  for 
years  yielded  to  every  appetite,  and  one  day  it 
is  an  appetite  which  rises  to  master,  perhaps  to 
slay  them. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  195 

It  was  thus  with  Tremaine.  His  passion  for 
Leah  had  passed,  as  such  a  passion  nearly  always 
passes  with  such  a  nature.  He  regretted  his  mar 
riage,  and  would  have  given  worlds  to  undo  it. 
He  meant  to  be  a  good  husband.  He  thought  it 
unpardonably  vulgar  to  be  a  bad  one  —  to  have 
brawls  at  home  —  to  let  people  see  that  you  were 
not  happily  married.  But  he  was  discontented  by 
a  bondage  which  had  till  recently  been  a  thrilling 
happiness.  Perhaps  this  same  discontent  served 
to  accelerate  the  baleful  growth  of  a  desire  already 
carelessly  indulged.  Twenty  times  a  day  he  would 
tell  himself  that  he  was  never  the  man  to  have  mar 
ried.  He  still  thought  Leah  a  very  beautiful  crea 
ture  ;  his  pride  in  her  had  somehow  strengthened 
as  his  love  decreased,  and  a  good  share  of  a  cer 
tain  kind  of  pride  had  fallen  to  him  by  maternal 
inheritance.  He  became  possessed  with  the  idea 
that  his  household  was  not  being  made  difficult 
enough  of  ingress  ;  Leah  had  too  few  dislikes  ;  her 
list  was  too  expanded  ;  she  was  showing  a  tendency 
toward  democratic  liberalisms.  .  .  .  Well,  this  was 
in  her  blood,  Tremaine  argued ;  it  must  be  exter 
minated  in  time.  - 

"  I  notice  that  you  see  a  good  deal  of  that  little 
Mrs.  Forbes,"  he  said. 

"  She  is  my  protegee"  laughed  Leah.  "  Besides, 
she  amuses  me  considerably." 


196  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"I  think  her  abominably  vulgar.  She  talks 
through  her  nose,  and  is  a  bouncer  besides.  Then 
one  meets  the  greatest  riff-raff  at  her  house.  You 
did  an  unfortunate  thing  for  poor  Bertie  Forbes 
when  you  gave  her  that  longing  to  know  people. 
After  all,  he  was  right.  He  has  forgiven  you,  but 
I  don't  doubt  that  he  feels  the  injury  still." 

"I  have  not  forgiven  him"  said  Leah,  with  a 
touch  of  her  old  haughtiness.  "I  never  shall  for 
give  him  for  being  contemptible." 

A  hard  spark  came  into  Tremaine's  eyes.  "  Ex 
tend  your  pardon  or  not,  as  you  please.  But  I 
wish  you  to  drop  his  wife." 

"No,"  she  answered,  "I  shall  not  do  so." 

He  frowned  now,  and  his  voice  was  sharp.  "  I 
insist,"  he  said. 

Leah  looked  at  him,  and  slowly  shook  her  head. 

Her  silent  resistant  firmness  roused  a  wrath  in 
him  which  she  had  never  before  seen.  But  she 
was  somehow  prepared  to  see  it.  Her  idol  had 
tumbled  earthward.  Her  idolatry,  too,  was  now 
daily  jeering  her  with  the  emptiness  of  its  own 
perished  fervor. 

"  There  are  those  Marksley  girls  also,"  he  pro 
ceeded,  with  dry,  low  voice.  "  You  chose  to  pop 
ularize  them,  and  in  a  manner  you  attained  your 
object.  But  they  are  still  merely  endured,  and 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  197 

everybody  laughs  at  their  grotesqueness.  I  will 
not  have  them  lunching  here,  or  happening  in  so 
intimately  every  two  or  three  days.  You  are  los 
ing  tone  by  letting  such  people  know  you  on  such 
close  terms." 

"  Then  I  shall  continue  to  lose  it,"  replied  Leah, 
with  a  laugh  so  icy  and  defiant  that  he  started  as 
he  heard.  "  Yes,  I  shall  continue  to  lose  it  until 
it  is  all  gone.  I  like  Lucy  Forbes,  and  I  like  the 
Marksley  girls.  I  don't  exalt  them  above  the  rest 
of  humanity,  but  I  place  them,  both  in  morals  and 
intellect,  well  above  a  good  many  persons  whom 
you  think  it  proper  for  me  to  know.  And  I  will 
know  them  —  I  will  be  intimate  with  them.  I 
have  chosen  to  make  them  all  three  my  friends ; 
they  are  all  three  honestly  fond  of  me,  and  I  would 
not  abate  my  friendship  or  my  civility  one  jot  for 
any  inducement  that  could  possibly  be  offered." 

Through  that  emphatic  yet  composed  little 
speech  she  was  like  and  yet  unlike  the  Leah  of  old 
—  the  Leah  who  had  bearded  Dr.  Pragley  and  his 
ccHerie  at  Newport  with  flashing  eyes.  But  her 
eyes  did  not  flash  now ;  they  were  full,  instead,  of 
a  sad  courage.  She  was  the  woman  who  with 
stood  an  attempted  wrong  —  not  the  girl  who 
resented  an  irritant  impertinence. 

This  interview  had  taken  place  at  dessert  one 


198  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

evening,  while  they  sat  over  their  fruits  and  coffee, 
after  the  retirement  of  the  servants.  This  was  the 
second  winter  of  their  marriage. 

Tremaine  rose  as  her  answer  ended.  He  had 
grown  white,  but  a  smile  broke  from  his  lips. 
"  How  you  remind  me  of  your  mother  at  times," 
he  said,  measuring  each  word.  "  You  have  the 
true  spirit  of  the  female  lecturer.  What  a  pity 
that  fate  should  have  drifted  you  away  from  a 
platform ! " 

He  was  preparing  to  pass  out  of  the  room  as  he 
finished,  but  he  could  not  reach  the  door  until  her 
fleet  retort  had  been  uttered.  And  yet,  although 
fleet,  it  was  filled  with  a  secure  self-control. 

"  You  can  pay  me  no  such  compliment,"  she  said, 
"  as  to  compare  me  with  my  mother,  just  as  you 
can  scarcely  ever  lower  yourself  so  much  in  my 
esteem  as  when  you  fling  any  paltry  slur  at  her 
beautiful  life." 

Leah  shed  hot  tears,  a  little  later,  after  he  had 
left  the  house  and  she  was  alone.  But  soon  her 
natural  force  asserted  itself.  This  new  rift  must 
not  widen.  It  would  be  horrible.  She  and  he  had 
years  yet,  perhaps,  to  live  out  together.  No  doubt 
other  women  had  made  just  such  mistakes  as  hers, 
and  been  forced  to  face  just  such  consequences. 
He  was  slowly  proving  to  be  everything  that  she 


TIXKLING   CYMBALS.  199 

had  felt  convinced  he  was  not.  She  thought  of 
him  as  he  had  looked  to  her  when  they  were  mar 
ried,  and  his  merely  physical  stature  rose  retro 
spectively  like  that  of  another  man.  Even  his 
love  had  vanished ;  she  had  seen  that  weeks  ago. 
And  her  own  love?  She  shivered  as  she  tried  to 
assure  herself  that  this  had  not  vanished  as  well 
—  that  it  had  not  been  swept  away  in  the  general 
ravage  of  hope,  trust,  respect.  For  how  could 
their  future  be  made  tolerable  to  either  if  both 
must  plod  along  lovelessly  through  uucalculated 
years  ? 

Leah  resolved  to  do  her  best,  arid  did  it.  In  the 
previous  summer  they  had  not  gone  to  Newport, 
but  in  the  following  one  they  again  went.  They 
rented  a  cottage  there,  and  lived  the  life  which  she 
had  now  almost  grown  to  hate.  Still,  its  excitement 
deadened  her  reflections.  The  youth  in  her  veins 
made  her  enjoy  almost  against  her  will.  She  often 
wondered  why  people  liked  her  as  they  did ;  but 
this  very  self-questioning  showed  that  she  was  un 
conscious  of  her  own  graces  and  charms ;  and  such 
unconsciousness  increased  both,  winning  her  ad 
mirers  and  devotees  of  either  sex  whom  she  had 
not  put  forth  a  finger  to  attract. 

Meanwhile  Tremaine  gradually  slipped  deeper 
and  deeper  into  intemperance.  But  his  indulgent 


200  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

periods  were  brief  though  frequent,  and  in  almost 
every  case  they  occurred  while  Leah  slept.  He 
and  she  now  occupied  separate  apartments ;  the 
cottage  was  commodious  enough  easily  to  allow 
this  plan ;  Leah  seldom  knew  at  what  hour  he  re 
turned,  after  late  stays  with  cards  or  billiards  in 
the  upper  club-regions  of  the  Casino. 

She  noticed  that  he  wore  an  unhealthy  look,  that 
he  had  grown  thin,  and  that  his  eyes  were  some 
times  darkly  ringed.  She  was  not  quite  sure  of 
the  cause,  yet  her  suspicions  verged  upon  certain 
ties.  She  constantly  blamed  herself  for  not  sim 
ulating  enough  warmth  during  their  hours  of 
meeting,  and  yet  it  is  doubtful  if  she  was  often 
truly  culpable.  They  had  their  frequent  quarrels 
now,  yet  these  were  incessantly  of  his  making. 
Leah  would  not  let  him  crush  her  in  trivial  argu 
ment  ;  she  would  use  one  sarcasm  of  her  own  to 
at  least  ten  of  his,  but  hers,  though  it  nearly  always 
told  with  silencing  power,  was  reluctantly  given. 
There  was  no  longer  a  shadow  of  affection  on  either 
side.  But  Leah  had  the  voice  of  duty  to  chide  her, 
and  used  her  stoutest  efforts  to  obey  it. 

Mrs.  Romilly  had  remained  in  New  York  that 
summer.  The  separation  was  an  added  trouble  to 
Leah ;  but  she  wrote  her  mother  nearly  every  day, 
if  it  was  only  a  line.  And  in  those  notes  and  let- 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  201 

ters  she  would  sometimes  lay  the  whole  bitter 
truth  bare,  while  adding  some  such  merciful  after- 
comment  as  this : 

"We  can  have  no  actual  rupture,  however,  be 
cause  I  shall  always  struggle  to  prevent  it,  unless 
he  should  make  some  important  demand  that  quite 
transcended  all  possibility  of  concession.  .  .  .  And 
as  for  the  life  he  is  leading,  I  must  grant  that  he 
never  shocks  me  with  any  of  its  immediate  results. 
I  have  never  seen  him  really  in  wine  except  once, 
though  much  oftener  than  once  I  have  felt  sure 
that  he  was  the  worse  for  it.  ...  I  think  I  can  go 
on  like  this  for  a  very  long  time.  Other  women  are 
doing  so  every  day — why  not  I?  And  do  not 
even  fancy  that  I  am  any  great  martyr.  My  only 
trouble  is  that  I  can't  do  what  other  women  are  con 
tinually  doing  under  the  same  circumstances.  .  .  . 
You  understand  what  I  mean  ?  It  shames  me 
even  to  think  of  writing  it." 

Rainsford,  who  was  living  his  usual  quiet  life  at 
Newport,  would  repeatedly  see  Leah  and  bow  to  her. 
But  they  were  never  brought  together  that  sum 
mer  in  any  conversational  way.  Where  she  went 
he  never  went.  Indeed,  he  went  nowhere,  as  the 
phrase  goes.  He  painted  his  pictures  and  strove 
to  get  from  them  the  high  peace  which  art  will  so 
often  give  a  hurt  soul  when  it  serves  her  truly. 


202  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

But  he  would  sometimes  make  a  flying  trip  to 
New  York,  and  then  he  always  saw  his  dear  friend, 
Mrs.  Romilly.  During  a  visit  which  he  paid  to 
her  late  in  August,  Leah's  mother  showed  him  the 
lines  just  recorded,  which  had  been  received  three 
days  ago. 

"  Oh,  Lawrence,"  she  murmured,  "  what  is  the 
real  meaning  of  those  words  ?  " 

"  Despair,"  he  answered. 

"Can  she  go  on  living  with  him  in  this  joyless, 
mocking  way  ?  " 

"  She  will,  and  very  bravely.  It  is  like  her  to 
be  brave.  Life  is  trying  her  now,  and  she  stands 
the  test.  Her  former  pride  and  arrogance  were 
merely  the  surface-flash  of  her  innate  womanly 
sincerity.  Below  all  that  harmless  discord  she 
rang  true.  She  is  ringing  true  now.  She  sees 
herself  bound  for  life  to  a  vicious  fop.  She  will 
accept  her  destiny  with  stoic  fortitude."  Then, 
after  a  moment  he  added :  "  She  will  accept  it 

without  the  least  weak  complaint,  unless" 

And  there  he  paused. 

"  Unless  ?  "  questioned  Mrs.  Romilly,  intently 
watching  his  strong,  meditative  face. 

"  I  refer  you  to  her  own  words,"  said  Rainsford. 
And  then  he  quoted,  with  grave  slowness,  a  por 
tion  of  what  Mrs.  Romilty  had  just  read  him,  show- 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  203 

ing  how  it  had  all  bitten  into  his  memory.  "  4  Un 
less  he  should  make  some  important  demand  that 
quite  transcended  all  possibility  of  concession.' 
Let  us  both  trust  that  he  will  not  —  for  her  sake." 

"  You  believe  that  he  will,  Lawrence  ?  " 

"  I  have  not  said  so." 

Mrs.  Romilly  gave  a  long,  heavy  sigh,  as  her 
hazel  eyes,  still  so  youthful,  searched  his  own. 
"  But  you  mean  so,"  she  persisted.  "  You  mean 
that  Leah  has  herself  foreshadowed  the  results  of 
her  own  pathetic  misjudgment." 

There  is  often  a  dramatic  neatness  in  the  occur 
rence  of  everyday  events  which  almost  puts  to 
shame  the  deft  manipulation  of  the  nicest  play 
wright.  Just  as  Mrs.  Romilly  finished  speaking 
those  words,  a  knock  sounded  at  the  door  of  the 
room  in  which  she  and  Rainsford  sat.  The  knock 
came  from  a  servant,  and  the  servant  brought  a 
telegram. 

"  It  is  from  Leah  !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Romilly, 
after  she  had  torn  open  the  envelope  and  swept 
her  glance  across  the  message. 

"  Well  ?  "  queried  Rainsford. 

"  '  Something  has  happened,"1 "  read  Mrs.  Romilly, 
striving  to  repress  her  agitation.  "  4 1  will  be  with 
you  to-morrow  evening.  I  leave  to-morrow  for  New 
York,  alone  ! '  " 


204  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"  Alone  !  "  echoed  Leah's  mother,  as  the  paper 
dropped  in  her  lap. 

Her  eyes  met  Rainsford's.  "  It  has  come,"  he 
said. 

" 4  It  has  come '  ?    What  has  come  ?  " 
"  That  of  which  we  have  just  been  speaking." 
"Do  you  mean  that  he  has  insulted  her?" 
"  No.     She  would  bear  insult.     She  would  resent 
it,  but  she  would  bear  it.     He  has  made  that  de 
mand.     He  has  required,  and  she  will  not  con 
cede." 

Mrs.  Romilly  stared  at  him  mutely.  Her  face 
was  full  of  misery.  Both  knew  the  futility  of 
further  words.  Both  knew  that  they  must  wait. 


X. 

rriHE  great  Mrs.  Chichester  drove  with  her  own 
•*•  hands,  that  summer  at  Newport,  a  pair  of 
thorough-bred  bays,  and  drove  them  very  well. 
She  was  passionately  fond  of  horses,  and  it  was 
stated  that  the  new  fashion  of  ladies  driving 
themselves  had  received  its  chief  support  from 
her  zealous  concurrence.  Plainly  and  trimly 
dressed,  with  her  curly  chestnut  hair  gathered 
well  beneath  a  dark  riding-hat,  with  a  fragmentary 
gossamer  veil  drawn  across  her  remarkably  fresh 
face,  with  her  gloves  of  just  the  proper  fit  and 
texture  to  handle  the  reins  easily,  and  with  her 
whip  held  at  just  the  approved  angle,  this  lady 
presented  an  appearance  in  which  ostentation  had 
no  part  whatever,  and  in  which  even  those  critics 
who  morosely  condemned  her  pet  pastime  as  un- 
feminine  could  not  but  admit  that  she  had  a  very 
simple  and  dignified  way  of  indulging  it.  She 
usually  preferred  to  drive  in  the  morning,  and 
would  sometimes  call  at  the  Tremaines'  cottage 
for  Leah  to  accompany  her,  Leah  liked  well 

205 


206  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

enough  to  go.  She  stood  in  no  awe  of  her 
friend's  social  grandeur,  and  would  talk  as  famil 
iarly  to  Mrs.  Chichester  as  though  she  were  one 
of  the  Marksley  girls.  Indeed,  Miss  Caroline  and 
Miss  Louisa  had  once,  in  that  exaggeration  of 
speech  which  so  rarely  forsook  them,  professed 
their  joint  wonder  at  this  undaunted  self-compla 
cency. 

"I  believe  that  is  why  Mrs.  Stephen  A.  dotes 
on  you  so,"  said  Caroline.  "Nearly  everybody 
else  grovels  to  her,  you  know.  She  is  tired  of 
being  grovelled  to." 

"  I  should  think  it  would  be  a  very  tiresome 
experience,"  laughed  Leah. 

"But  we  don't  see  how  you  hold  your  own 
with  her  in  that  superb  style  —  do  we?"  pro 
ceeded  Louisa,  nodding  toward  her  sister.  "  Why, 
Carrie  and  I  have  a  feeling  as  if  electric  currents 
were  darting  up  and  down  our  spines  whenever 
she  speaks  to  us ! " 

"You  know  she  is  such  a  perfectly  terrific 
swell,"  resumed  Caroline.  "She  awes  us  —  doesn't 
she,  Lou?  We  don't  see  how  you  can  look  her  so 
straight  in  the  eyes." 

"  Do  you  think  I  ought  to  watch  her  through  a 
piece  of  smoked  glass  ?  "  said  Leah,  "  as  we  watch 
the  sun  ?  " 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  207 

She  was  so  firmly  assured  of  the  honest  natures 
underlying  the  eccentricities  of  these  girls,  that 
she  had  grown  to  regard  their  present  foible  in 
the  light  of  a  diversion ;  and  not  seldom  she 
found  it  a  very  effective  one. 

In  the  morning  of  the  day  before  that  on  which 
her  mother  received  Leah's  alarming  telegram, 
Mrs.  Chichester  gave  her  young  friend  a  delightful 
drive  behind  the  neat-stepping  and  well-broken 
steeds.  The  day  was  almost  perfect ;  they  went 
by  the  Ocean  Avenue  way,  where  huge  rocks 
lifted  their  black  bulks  against  the  dazzling  noon 
tide  sea.  None  of  the  great  houses  are  here,  and, 
indeed,  scarcely  a  dwelling  of  any  sort  meets  your 
sight  as  you  glide  over  a  road  whose  hard,  finely- 
tended  level  makes  the  horse-hoofs  ring  almost 
as  if  they  struck  against  metal.  This  road  is  the 
sole  sign  of  art  Avhich  marks  the  lovely,  desolate 
region.  The  sea-grasses  thrive  here,  in  rugged 
coves  and  by  ponderous  ledges,  as  they  may  have 
thriven  a  thousand  years  ago.  The  strong  waves 
have  no  ministry  to  perform  on  this  unpeopled 
stretch  of  coast ;  they  do  not  bear  gifts  of  color 
and  light  to  the  doorways  of  fair  abodes,  or  wash 
headlands  green  with  smooth  lapses  of  watered 
sod ;  the  shore  on  which  they  break  is  untamed 
as  themselves ;  this  so-called  avenue,  one  of  the 


208  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

glories  of  Newport,  strikes  a  rich,  clear  note  amid 
the  scale  of  her  delicious  variability. 

The  two  ladies  went  back  to  Steep  Rock  after 
their  drive,  and  lunched  together  in  a  sea-fronting 
room  of  that  fine  mansion.  Leah,  while  she 
watched  the  strangely  youthful  face  of  her  host 
ess,  felt  a  furtive  thrill  of  envy.  "Here,"  she 
thought,  "is  a  life  in  which  plenty  and  peace  have 
ever  gone  together.  What  earthly  trouble  has 
this  woman  ever  kno\vn?  And  does  she  realize 
her  complete  happiness  ?  Ah  !  do  we .  ever  do 
that  until  it  is  past?" 

Then  Leah  thought  of  her  mother,  and  the 
envy,  becoming  more  generous,  deepened.  Be 
tween  Marion  Chichester  and  Elizabeth  llomilly 
what  intellectual  distance  lay !  Both  were  good 
women,  yet  the  virtue  of  one  had  been  a  mere 
dormant  receptivity ;  she  had  accepted  dogma 
and  homily,  questioning  neither ;  she  had  bowed 
all  her  life  at  the  shrine  of  propriety ;  she  had 
tacitly  held  that  regarding  the  most  vital  human 
questions  thought  was  sin.  And  yet  how  great 
was  the  place  that  she  possessed  in  this  American 
society  where  she  reigned,  and  where  the  lines  of 
provincialism  were  being  j^early  more  and  more 
obliterated.  Why  had  not  Elizabeth  Romilly  a 
place  like  hers  ?  Why  did  she,  born  a  queen  by 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  209 

right  of  genius,  dwell  without  a  crown,  without  a 
courtier?  What  supreme  benefit  might  she  not 
have  accomplished  for  her  race  with  these  mil 
lions  that  had  gone  to  rear  only  the  airy  and  un- 
durable  scaffolding  of  a  ballroom  sovereignty ! 
How  might  she  have  proved  to  the  world  that 
certain  dreams  of  her  youth,  chimerical  as  these 
had  seemed,  could  be  substantiated  in  golden 
realities! 

While  Leah's  involuntary  reflections  took  more 
or  less  the  meaning  just  given,  words  shaped 
themselves  on  her  lips  of  whose  delivery  she  was 
almost  unconscious  until  she  heard  Mrs.  Chi- 
chester's  full,  rhythmical  voice  answering  what 
she  had  uttered. 

"You  ask  me  if  I  have  not  always  been  happy, 
Leah?  Well,  I  feel  as  if  it  were  a  crime  to  say 
'no,'  and  yet  I  am  tempted  to  say  it."  She 
smiled,  stirred  a  cup  of  frothy  chocolate  with  her 
little  spiral-handled  spoon,  for  an  instant,  looked 
thoughtful  (she  who  so  seldom  looked  thought 
ful),  and  then  added :  "  Do  you  know,  my  dear, 
that  great  prosperity  has  its  own  peculiar  discom 
forts  ?  "  Leah  was  actually  startled  by  this  simple 
sentence.  A  funny  fancy  crossed  her  mind ;  she 
wondered  whether  the  Marksleys  would  have 
remained  free  from  hysteria  if  subjected  to  such 


210  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

an  imposing  bit  of  royal  confidence,  since  Mrs. 
Chichester  had  never  been  known,  in  the  experi 
ence  of  her  most  intimate  devotees,  to  mention, 
however  indirectly,  the  mighty  fact  of  her  own 
wealth  and  state. 

"For  example,  my  dear  Leah,"  she  now  con 
tinued,  lowering  her  voice  as  though  some  pos 
sible  ambuscaded  servant  might  overhear  so 
weighty  a  confession,  "I  never  know  what  it 
is  to  want  anything.  Ah!  my  child"  (and  she 
sighed  here  with  a  distinct  pathos),  "  there  is  so 
much  in  that  —  to  want  a  thing  !  When  I  put  on 
a  new  gown  I  occasionally  have  a  most  desolate 
sensation.  I  am  on  a  kind  of  dead  level  of  lux 
ury.  It  is  all  as  commonplace  as  la  pluie  et  le 
beau  temps.  No,  I  mean  it  is  all  beau  temps; 
there  is  no  pluie  whatever.  I  wish  that  there 
only  were,  but  there  is  not.  I  need  not  ask  the 
price  of  my  new  gown  ;  I  need  not  even  concern 
myself  with  how  many  of  them  I  have.  You 
don't  know  what  a  bore  it  becomes  to  have  no 
personal  desires  ungratified." 

The  lady  said  this  with  a  truly  immense  ear 
nestness  ;  Leah  had  never  seen  her  so  earnest 
before.  Her  tone  and  expression  were  precisely 
those  which  might  have  been  the  fitting  accompa 
niments  of  extreme  indigence  unbosoming  its 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  211 

woes.  She  tried  to  look  sympathetically  inter 
ested  ;  she  tried  not  to  let  the  hint  of  a  smile  mar 
her  attentive  seriousness;  she  wanted  to  get  the 
whole  rare  satire  of  this  new  species  of  distress. 
For  the  time  she  forgot  even  to  be  shocked.  The 
exquisite  absurdity  of  extreme  opulence  deploring 
its  overplus  in  the  same  strain  as  that  of  some 
meagre-pursed  starveling  who  craves  charity, 
touched  only  her  sense  of  humor,  and  very 
keenly. 

"But  it  is  the  same  with  dress  as  with  every 
thing  else,"  proceeded  Mrs.  Chichester.  She  had 
now  left  off  stirring  her  chocolate ;  its  ropy, 
bronze-brown  liquid  appeared  to  have  palled  upon 
her  taste ;  she  moved  her  head  sorrowfully  from 
side  to  side,  and  stared  straight  past  Leah  at  a 
breadth  of  tapestry  which  hung  by  gilt  rings  on 
a  gilt  rod. 

"  Dress  is  not  my  only  trouble,"  murmured  this 
afflicted  millionaire.  "  Oh,  no,  indeed !  There  is 
the  wretched  bore  of  having  a  chef  and  two  or 
three  assistants  who  require  no  orders  in  the  mat 
ter  of  dinners.  It  would  be  so  perfectly  charming 
to  make  out  one's  own  menu  when  one  asked 
people  to  dine.  But  our  man,  Claireau,  whom  my 
husband  specially  imported,  and  whom  he  pays 
several  thousand  a  year,  would  regard  me  in  polite 


212  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

amazement  if  I  presumed  to  order  anything.  The 
'ideas,'  as  he  has  the  impudence  to  call  them,  are 
submitted  to  me,  and  I  am  expected  unqualifiedly 
to  approve  them.  I  always  do ;  Claireau  is  so 
monotonously  capable.  Of  course  he  combines 
with  his  skill  a  great  deal  of  handsome  humbug. 
He  talks  of  his  dishes  as  if  they  were  poems,  and 
of  his  courses  as  if  they  were  stanzas  or  cantos. 
He  assured  me,  the  other  day,  that  one  kind  of 
soup  had  much  more  sentiment  than  another,  and 
that  a  certain  entree  was  full  of  lyrical  tender 
ness —  '-pleine  d\ine  tendresse  lyrique^  Madame.'' 
.  .  .  Think  of  that !  .  .  .  And  thus  it  goes  on,  my 
dear.  I  have  no  real  comfort  in  living,  because  I 
live  too  comfortably.  I  could  recount  a  hundred 
other  little  miseries  to  you,  all  springing  from  the 
same  cause.  But  I  will  not.  Let  us  talk  of 
something  else,  my  dear."  Here  Mrs.  Chichester 
became  herself  again,  and  began  to  stir  and  sip 
the  beverage  before  her  with  a  kind  of  repentant 
briskness.  "  Let  me  ask  you  with  whom  you 
shall  dance  the  german  at  my  ball,  next  Thurs 
day?  It  is  such  a  pleasure  to  speak  with  a  friend 
who  has  not  written  me  asking  invitations  for 
two  or  three  other  friends.  There  is  a  new  little 
misery — and  not  so  little  a  one,  after  all — which 
I  forgot  to  record !  My  ball  will  probably  be  as 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  213 

mixed  as  one  of  the  poor  late  President  Lincoln's. 
I  am  prepared  to  have  it  criticised  as  the  most 
broadly  democratic  entertainment  ever  given  in 
Newport.  But  what  can  I  do?  My  own  friends 
betray  me.  I  can't  say  'no'  to  them.  .  .  .  Ah, 
they  don't  reflect  what  hard  things  I  say  when  I 
write  4yes  ! '  "  .  .  . 

Leah  afterward  had  her  ruminations  as  she  was 
driven  homeward  in  a  spacious  open  equipage  of 
Mrs.  Chichester's.  She  had  ceased  to  feel  amused, 
she  was  silently  ired. 

"  How  preposterous  seem  these  dainty  griefs," 
she  thought,  "  when  one  reflects  upon  them ! 
Where  are  that  woman's  almsgivings  ?  You  read 
of  them  in  the  newspapers  —  a  conspicuous  cheque 
is  donated  to  this  or  that  asylum  or  institution. 
But  what  more  ?  .  .  .  She  broods  over  the  tyranny 
of  her  cook  because  he  feeds  her  faultlessly  —  of 
her  tailor,  because  he  clothes  her  beyond  reproach ! 
And  yet  this  woman  is  a  Christian,  and  goes  to 
churches  where,  if  you  plied  the  question  close  to 
them,  they  would  say,  with  Dr.  Pragley,  that  my 
great-hearted  mother  is  an  atheist !  " 

Leah  reached  home  to-day  in  no  pleasant  mood. 
It  was  about  four  o'clock.  The  domain  of  Belle- 
vue  Avenue  had  begun  to  fill  with  its  usual  throng 
of  carriages.  Polo  was  played  this  afternoon,  and 


214  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

many  of  the  vehicles  were  hurrying  toward  the 
grounds  where  that  madcap  game  had  its  especial 
theatre  of  revel.  Leah's  dwelling  was  in  Kay 
Street  —  that  realm  of  close-crowded  cottages, 
nearly  all  unobtrusive,  and  yet  all  informed  with 
a  special  home-like  fascination.  There,  on  the 
roadside,  just  opposite  her  gate  (for  the  near 
ness  of  all  these  houses  to  the  public  turnpike 
admits  of  no  entrance  within  their  lawns),  she 
found  Mrs.  Forbes,  seated  in  a  barouche,  quite  as 
grand  as  that  of  Mrs.  Chichester,  which  had  just 
brought  the  guest  of  the  great  lady  back  to  her 
cottage. 

"  Oh,  I  am  so  glad,  Leah ! "  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Forbes,  leaning  vivaciously  forward.  "  I  wanted 
to  see  you.  Come  —  let 's  go  to  the  Polo  grounds 
—  or  anywhere  you  please  —  I  don't  care.  But 
you  must  come  with  me.  They  said  here  that  you 
were  off  somewhere  with  Mrs.  Chichester,  and  I 
was  just  on  the  point  of  driving  to  Steep  Rock 
to  try  and  get  you.  I  must  have  you.  Now,  don't 
refuse !  " 

Leah  demurred  not  a  little  after  alighting,  but 
presently  permitted  herself  to  be  persuaded.  She 
had  had  quite  enough  of  driving  for  that  da}',  but 
there  was  a  nervous  eagerness  in  Mrs.  Forbes's 
manner  which  made  her  suspect  that  it  had  origin 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  215 

in  some  mental  trouble.  For  this  reason  she  con 
sented. 

At  first  her  suspicion  seemed  very  far  from 
confirmation.  The  elegant  equipage  in  which  she 
was  now  seated  soon  passed  from  Kay  Street  into 
Bellevue  Avenue.  But,  although  Mrs.  Forbes  had 
a  great  deal  to  say  on  the  various  topics  which  con 
cerned  the  present  rush  and  swirl  of  things,  she 
made  no  allusion  to  that  particular  matter  which 
had  appeared  on  the  verge  of  disclosure. 

"Lucy,"  at  length  said  Leah,  quietly,  "you're 
talking  in  quite  a  random  way,  and  I  know  there 
is  something  you  really  want  to  tell  me.  Pray, 
what  is  it?" 

Mrs.  Forbes  laid  one  hand  on  Leah's,  pressing 
sensibly  with  her  gloved  fingers. 

"  Oh,  Leah,"  she  said,  "  don't  ask  me  quite 
yet ! "  Her  unalterably  nasal  tones  somehow 
made  this  appeal  more  plaintive  than  it  might 
otherwise  have  been.  "  We  '11  get  to  the  Polo 
grounds  in  a  minute.  Don't  ask  me  till  we  're 
driving  back.  .  .  .  Or,  if  you  say  so,  we  won't 
go  in.  I  '11  tell  James  to  turn  round.  What 
do  you  say?" 

"  Oh,  well,"  answered  Leah,  "  we  are  so  near, 
now,  that  we  might  as  well  enter." 

Polo  was  an  oft-told  tale  to  her,  and  she  thought 


216  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

it  an  extremely  stupid  amusement  for  the  crowds 
that  flocked  to  see  its  petty  battles  lost  or  won. 
Still,  she  owned  there  was  attraction  in  noting  the 
various  faces  and  costumes,  if  nothing  more  ;  her 
eye  was  quite  as  quick  as  formerly  to  seize  on  all 
comic  points  in  either,  though  her  tongue  was 
much  less  ready  to  record  the  effects  of  such  ob 
servation.  Their  carriage  now  entered  an  im 
mense  space  of  deep-green,  elastic  turf,  inclosed 
by  a  wooden  fence  of  thrice  the  ordinary  height. 
A  very  wide  margin  on  every  side  of  this  fine 
amphitheatre  was  given  up  to  visitors  in  equipages 
of  countless  sorts,  while  here  and  there  moved 
equestrians  of  both  sexes.  Many  of  the  carriages 
had  stopped,  and  words  were  being  interchanged 
by  their  occupants.  Others  were  in  motion, 
making  two  continual  streams  that  flowed  past 
one  another.  To-day  had  brought  what  was 
esteemed  a  very  full  attendance ;  it  was  a  speci 
men  day,  so  to  speak,  and  as  usual  in  any 
large  gathering  at  Newport  the  winsome  faces 
of  beautiful  young  girls  were  a  brilliant  pre 
ponderating  feature.  The  bustle  and  animation 
of  nearly  everybody,  their  smiles,  their  brisk  nods 
or  more  stately  bows,  their  peals  of  laughter, 
their  bursts  of  careless  or  mirthful  speech,  con 
trasted  happily  with  the  rich  radiance  of  female 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  217 

apparel,  the  neat  smartness  which  marked  the 
gentlemen's  attire,  the  style  and  airs  of  the  cock- 
aded,  booted  flunkeys,  the  flash  of  silver  or  gilded 
harness,  the  fragrance  and  glow  of  roses  knotted 
at  the  bosoms  of  charming  women,  the  keen  blue 
of  the  afternoon  sky,  the  vigorous  breeze  that  blew 
straight  from  the  sea  across  this  splendid  expanse 
of  turf,  and  lastly  the  blithe  music  of  a  band 
stationed  as  centrally  as  possible,  and  doing  its 
rapid,  vociferous  best  when  each  game  was  started, 
as  though  to  stimulate  the  players  in  their  feats  of 
supple  horsemanship. 

Remarkable  indeed  were  these  feats.  The  clipped 
little  ponies  that  their  riders  bestrode  with  such 
tough  adhesiveness,  would  now  press  four  or 
five  of  their  volatile  bodies  together  in  a  wriggling 
melee,  now  swerve  mutually  from  collision  when 
on  the  apparent  verge  of  it,  now  describe  the  most 
breakneck  zigzags  or  wheel  in  the  most  giddy  rev 
olutions  ;  and  all  the  while  one  tiny  ball,  struck 
at  with  plunges  of  the  mallets,  dashed  for  with 
headlong  swoops  of  the  ponies,  continued  the 
cause  of  these  onslaughts,  tilts,  shocks,  sorties,  or 
retreats.  The  great  distance  which  separated 
players  from  spectators  made  this  ball  often  invisi 
ble  amid  the  tumult,  as  it  made  the  pigmy  steeds 
themselves  assume  proportions  hardly  larger  than 


218  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

those  of  some  big-framed  mastiff.  Suddenly  a 
lucky  stroke  would  send  the  ball  leaping  far  away 
from  the  massed  contestants,  and  then,  fleet  as 
wind,  a  pony  would  dart  to  where  it  had  fallen, 
his  sitter  eager  to  strike  it  out  of  bounds  with  the 
final  victorious  blow.  But  perhaps  he  would 
stoop,  aim,  essay  the  swinging  hit,  and  yet  miss 
at  the  decisive  second.  Then  some  adversary,  hot 
in  pursuit,  would  perhaps  halt  straight  at  the  im 
portant  spot  just  passed,  with  enough  suddenness, 
you  might  think,  to  unseat  a  centaur.  Like  light 
ning  the  obedient  pony  would  veer  about;  like 
lightning  the  new  implement  would  meet  the  ball 
and  send  it  flying  back  among  those  glad  or 
chagrined  at  its  return,  and  fired  with  zeal  to 
fight  for  its  possession.  Perhaps  it  would  soon 
be  hurled  toward  the  opposite  bounds  from  those 
so  nearly  reached  a  brief  while  since;  perhaps  the 
same  ill-fortune  would  here  repeat  itself  with  the 
other  foe,  or  possibly  a  strenuous,  rushing  coup 
would  abruptly  end  the  struggle  and  decide  the 
conquest. 

"  You  need  a  telescope  to  provoke  any  lively 
interest  in  Polo,"  said  Leah,  as  she  and  Mrs. 
Forbes  were  driven  at  a  gentle  pace  along  the 
usual  turfy,  circular  route.  "  Don't  you  agree 
with  me,  Lucy?" 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  219 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Forbes,  in  rather  absent  tones. 
The  game  bored  her,  as  it  does  most  women ;  be 
sides,  her  thoughts  had  excuse  for  wandering  just 
now.  "  I  always  did  think  that  Polo  was  made  for 
children,"  she  continued.  "How  few  men  ever 
play  it !  They  are  nearly  always  boys  of  twenty 
or  thereabouts.  After  that  age  they  begin  to  re 
spect  their  bones  and  joints;  dyspepsia  warns 
them  that  they  're  not  immortal ;  they  discover 
that  while  discretion  is  the  better  part  of  valor, 
so  is  prudence  the  sworn  friend  of  longevity." 

Leah  laughed,  as  she  often  did,  at  the  sparkles 
of  pleasantry  that  came  from  her  friend.  Mrs. 
Forbes's  speedy  way  of  delivering  her  bright  things, 
and  the  nasal  voice  which  never  failed  to  utter 
them,  stamped  them  as  individual  and  character 
istic. 

But  Leah  had  already  plainly  seen  that  she  was 
by  no  means  her  merry  self  to-day.  Just  as  they 
were  driving  away  from  the  Polo  grounds,  about  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  later,  Mrs.  Forbes  surprised 
her  by  a  swift,  sharp  laugh,  arid  a  motion  of  the 
head  toward  a  rocky  elevation  of  land,  whose 
highest  portion  commanded  an  evident  view  of 
the  game  and  its  assembled  watchers.  Here  a 
few  nurses  with  children  were  to  be  glimpsed, 
and  many  more  persons  of  both  sexes,  shabby 


220  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

in   guise   and   clearly  members   of   the  working- 
classes. 

"  That  is  Deadhead  Hill,  you  know,"  said  Mrs. 
Forbes,  after  her  laugh.  "  Oh,  dear,  it  reminds  me 
of  such  a  funny  adventure  of  mine,  summer  before 
last !  Bertie  —  as  usual  then  —  had  gone  off  with 
some  swell  man  or  woman  to  see  Polo,  /wanted 
to  see  Polo,  too.  I  had  n't  my  horses  yet ;  we 
had  just  got  here,  and  did  n't  know  how  long 
we  should  stay,  on  account  of  that  money  fright 
in  Peoria,  of  which  I  told  you.  So  I  concluded 
I  would  take  a  walk  to  the  Polo  grounds.  They 
told  me  it  was  n't  far  from  the  Aquidneck  —  at 
least  I  think  somebody  said  so.  I  found  it  pretty 
far  though,  and  when  I  got  here  I  saw  people  stand 
ing  just  as  they  're  standing  now,  and  that  broken 
fence  where  they  get  in,  and  I  said  to  myself,  'This 
must  be  the  way  you  go  when  }^ou  go  on  foot.'  So 
I  marched  up,  and  clambered  along  till  I  had  a 
good  place  for  seeing,  and  then  I  saw.  It  did  n't 
occur  to  me  that  I  was  n't  particularly  among  peo 
ple  of  my  own  kind.  I  had  a  rather  good  time  ;  I 
did  n't  think  much  of  Polo,  any  more  than  I  've 
ever  thought  of  it  since.  But  when  I  got  home 
and  told  Bertie  where  I  'd  been,  you  should  have 
seen  his  horror."  Here  all  Mrs.  Forbes's  humor 
vanished.  She  spoke  with  positive  acerbity ;  Leah 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  221 

had  never  before  seen  her  exhibit  so  much  bitter 
ness.  " '  That  was  Deadhead  Hill,'  he  informed 
me,  in  the  most  shocked  manner.  He  hoped  no 
one  had  seen  me  there.  It  was  horrible  to  think 
of  his  wife  having  gone  where  nobody  except  ser 
vants  and  common  people  ever  dreamed  of  going." 
At  this  point  Mrs.  Forbes  gave  another  slight 
laugh,  harsher  than  before.  "  Oh,  I  know  what  I 
might  have  said,  Leah,  and  what  perhaps  I  ought 
to  have  said  —  I  mean  that  Deadhead  Hill  was 
much  more  suited  to  him  than  to  me,  since  I  was 
n't  living  in  conceited  laziness  on  my  husband's 
money,  as  he  was  living  on  his  wife's." 

Leah  saw  the  truth  at  last.  She  let  a  little 
silence  elapse,  and  then  she  stole  her  hand  into  her 
companion's. 

"Lucy,"  she  said,  "you've  had  a  serious  quar 
rel  with  your  husband.  Come,  acknowledge  it. 
That  is  what  you  wanted  to  tell  me." 

"Serious?"  said  Mrs.  Forbes,  turning  her  face 
on  Leah's,  and  lifting  her  pretty  brows  in  mock 
astonishment ;  "  that  is  no  word  for  it,  my  dear. 
I  intend  arranging  for  a  separation." 

"  Really,"  murmured  Leah. 

"  Without  the  least  doubt.  I  've  stood  his  ridic 
ulous  airs  long  enough.  I  've  had  the  British  peer 
age  substituted  for  the  family  Bible  quite  long 


222  TINKLING  CYMBALS. 

enough,  too,  not  to  mention  its  being  occasionally 
fired  in  my  face  when  his  majesty  chanced  to  be  out 
of  humor.  But,  more  than  this,  Leah,  I  have  be 
come  business-woman  enough  not  to  allow  the  for 
tune  pa  left  me  to  be  gambled  away  at  the  Metro 
politan  Club  in  New  York  and  the  Casino  here. 
I  told  him  that  very  squarely  last  night.  I  said : 
4  Go  your  way,  sir,  and  I  '11  go  mine.'  I  am  to  see 
my  lawyer  in  a  few  days,  and  I  told  him  that,  too. 
I  suppose  there  '11  be  a  scandal,  but  I  don't  care. 
I  have  n't  an  atom  of  regard  left  for  him  —  not  an 
atom !  He  has  treated  me  vilely ;  he  has  used  me 
(the  mother  of  his  children,  Leah !)  as  a  mere  con 
venience  and  cat's-paw.  I  've  borne  it  all,  for 
months  past,  only  from  a  sense  of  decency.  Now 
he  's  gone  too  far,  and  he  shall  feel  it.  After  this 
we  live  apart.  I  '11  put  him  on  an  allowance ;  I  '11 
give  him  three  thousand  a  year ;  not  a  penny  more 
—  and  that 's  more  than  he  deserves.  .  .  .  He  in 
sulted  me  grossly  last  night.  The  fine  gentleman 
vanished  when  he  found  I  would  n't  pay  his  gam 
bling  debts !  The  rare  old  Chetwynde  blood  ac 
quitted  itself  most  aristocratically !  He  called  me 
a  common  little  Yankee,  Leah.  He  said  that  my 
poor,  dear,  dead  father  had  been  a  cad.  .  .  .  Oh, 
then  I  gave  him  a  few  plain  truths  —  be  sure  I  did ! 
I  have  never  been  so  furious  before  in  all  my  life, 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  223 

and  I  hope  I  shall  never  be  so  again.  I  let  him 
understand  that  he  had  come  to  the  end  of  his 
tether  —  and  he  does  understand  it.  He  's  fright 
ened  now.  Let  him  stay  so.  I  'm  firm  as  steel ; 
I  mean  to  show  him  good  cause  for  fright.  He  's 
great  friends  with  your  husband,  by  the  way.  I 
suppose  he  has  told  Mr.  Tremaine  everything. 
I  'm  so  fond  of  you,  Leah,  that  I  hate  to  think  of 
anything  unpleasant  rising  between  us." 

"  You  need  have  no  fear  of  anything  unpleasant 
rising  between  us,"  said  Leah,  quietly.  "What 
ever  side  my  husband  takes  is  of  no  import  to  me. 
.  .  .  You  are  wretched,  Lucy,  and  not  yourself. 
You  must  dismiss  the  carriage  when  we  get  to  Kay 
Street,  and  stop  and  dine  with  me." 

Mrs.  Forbes  demurred,  but  Leah  insisted,  at 
length  carrying  her  point.  As  the  two  ladies 
passed  up  the  short  lawn-path  leading  to  the  piazza, 
they  saw  Tremaine  standing  there. 

It  was  nearly  dinner-time.  He  wore  full  even 
ing-dress,  as  he  had  done  at  this  hour  almost  from 
boyhood.  He  bowed  with  perfect  suavity  to  Mrs. 
Forbes,  who  at  once  passed  indoors.  Meanwhile 
Leah  lingered  for  a  moment. 

"  Lucy  dines  with  us  this  evening,"  she  said. 

His  face  clouded.  "  Have  you  asked  her  for  the 
purpose  of  annoying  me  ?  "  he  replied.  "  I  don't 


224  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

see  what  other  motive  you  can  have.  Bertie  has 
told  me  of  their  quarrel.  You  know  he  and  I  are 
friends.  I  detest  that  woman,  and  you  know  that 
also.  I  will  not  have  her  at  my  table." 

"  Shall  I  tell  her  so  ?  "  asked  Leah,  calmly. 

"  Yes,"  he  answered,  sullenly,  below  his  breath. 
"  You  can,  if  you  choose." 


XT. 

A  SMILE  of  irony  touched  Leah's  lips  as  she 
left  her  husband  standing  on  the  piazza  and 
rejoined  her  friend.  Not  long  afterward  dinner 
was  announced,  and  when  Leah  and  Mrs.  Forbes 
appeared  in  the  dining-room  they  were  met  by  Tre- 
maine,  who  had  chosen  to  assume  a  cool,  careless 
manner,  although  indignation  burned  not  far  be 
neath  its  decorous  outer  crust. 

The  talk  flowed  rather  freely,  though  aimlessly, 
until  dessert  was  served  and  the  attendants  had 
retired.  Leah  had  been  speaking  in  a  vein  of  light 
ridicule  regarding  the  troubles  which  Mrs.  Chi- 
chester  had  confided  to  her  that  day  at  luncheon. 

"  Some  of  the  people  who  are  crying  the  Chi- 
chesters  down  as  shameless  monopolists  ought  to 
hear  of  Mrs.  Stephen  A.'s  distresses/'  said  Mrs. 
Forbes.  "  It  might  comfort  them  a  little.  ...  I 
wonder  if  there  are  many  married  women  in  New 
port  this  evening  who  have  less  actual  griev 


ances." 


225 


226  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

She  gave  a  sidelong  look  toward  Tremaine  as 
she  spoke  the  last  sentence. 

"  Oh,  most  married  women  have  very  serious 
grievances,"  he  said,  with  his  eyes  drooped  upon 
his  plate. 

"Yes,  and  they  are  always  foolish  ones,  of 
course,"  said  Mrs.  Forbes,  with  a  kind  of  mourn 
ful  satire. 

"  Not  always,"  Leah  broke  in  propitiatingly. 

"  Oh,  yes,  my  dear  Leah,  always ! "  declared 
Mrs.  Forbes,  turning  with  great  earnestness  toward 
her  friend.  Her  lip  trembled  a  little  as  she  spoke. 
A  glance  from  Leah  silenced  further  words. 

"  The  longer  that  men  live  in  the  world,"  said 
Tremaine,  with  his  drawl,  beginning  to  peel  a 
peach,  "  the  more  they  are  led  to  conclude  that  it 
wasn't  entirely  made  for  the  other  sex.  They 
want  a  small  corner  of  the  big  sphere  —  only  a 
corner,  you  know.  And  they  take  the  liberty  of 
being  annoyed  when  that  moderate  demand  is 
interfered  with." 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean ! "  exclaimed 
Mrs.  Forbes,  who  had  no  parry  of  words,  no  power 
of  duelling  with  wit.  "  You  can't  allude  to  me, 
surely !  I  don't  think  there  ever  was  a  woman 
who  endured  quite  as  much  downright  imposition 
as  I  did  from  my  husband.  I  suppose  he  has  told 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  227 

you  what  has  happened.  You  always  sided  with 
him,  Mr.  Tremaine,  and  no  doubt  you  do  so  now." 

"  I  heard  there  had  been  trouble,"  he  said,  a 
trifle  bluntly,  "  and  of  course  I  have  my  opin 
ions." 

Mrs.  Forbes  gave  a  peevish,  exasperated  sigh. 

"  Well,  keep  them  to  yourself,  I  beg,"  she  re 
sponded,  rather  tartly. 

"  I  had  no  intention  of  airing  them,  really." 

"  If  you  have  finished  your  coffee,  Lucy,"  now 
said  Leah,  "  we  will  go  into  the  drawing-room." 

"  What!  and  leave  me?"  said  Tremaine,  softly, 
with  a  fleeting  smile  that  had  not  a  ray  of  humor. 

"  Yes  —  to  your  cigar,"  she  answered. 

"  All,"  said  Mrs.  Forbes,  in  tones  more  sad  than 
angry,  though  both,  while  she  lifted  one  plump 
forefinger  and  shook  it  at  Tremaine,  "  I  'm  afraid 
you're  glad  enough  to  have  me  go." 

"  I  must  be  polite  enough  to  disagree  with  you 
there,"  he  promptly  said,  "  no  matter  how  great 
danger  I  may  run  in  doing  so." 

It  was  somehow  not  a  rude  speech  as  he  pro 
nounced  it,  though  on  other  lips  the  implication,  at 
such  a  time,  that  to  disagree  with  her  was  danger 
ous,  must  have  seemed  openly  assailant  and  harsh. 

Thus  Mrs.  Forbes  chose  to  deem  it,  however, 
from  the  present  speaker ;  her  nerves  were  shaken 


228  TINKLING  CYMBALS. 

by  the  recent  domestic  tornado;  they  were  still 
vibrating  under  an  acute  sense  of  indignity.  She 
had  not  merely  the  feeling  that  everybody  who 
was  not  with  her  was  against  her,  but  that  every 
body  who  was  against  her  must  base  such  antago 
nism  upon  the  most  malicious  injustice. 

"No  one  runs  any  danger  in  disagreeing  with 
me!"  she  exclaimed.  Tears  were  in  her  voice, 
and  a  good  deal  of  spleen  besides.  "  But  when  I 
have  been  abused  and  insulted  for  years  it  is  a  dif 
ferent  matter." 

Tremaine  looked  at  her  with  a  cruel  tranquillity. 
"  Upon  my  word,"  he  said,  "  I  have  made  no  in 
quiries  into  your  family  history.  Why  do  you 
volunteer  these  interesting  details  ?  " 

"  Why  ?  "  echoed  Mrs.  Forbes,  brokenly.  "  Be 
cause  I  am  a  very  unhappy  woman  through  no 
fault  of  my  own,  and  because  I  see  that  you  are 
bent  upon  taunting  me." 

Tremaine  gave  his  head  a  slight  toss.  His  voice 
was  hard  and  arbitrary  now,  though  not  loud. 
"  If  you  want  to  be  canonized  as  a  martyr,"  he 
replied,  "  I  am  not  prepared  to  perform  any  such 
ceremony.  I  confess  that  I  lack  the  requisite  faith 
to  do  the  anointing.  You  must  seek  somebody 
more  blameless  —  more  like  yourself." 

"  Tracy,"  broke  in  Leah,  firmly  and  decidedly, 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  229 

at  this  point,  "  you  will  please  say  nothing  more. 
Lucy  is  miserable,  and  you  know  it."  .  .  .  She 
rose  and  went  toward  her  friend,  whose  tears  had 
begun  to  flow,  and  whose  form  was  trembling. 
She  laid  one  hand  upon  Mrs.  Forbes's  arm. 
"Come,  Lucy,"  she  said,  "come  at  once  into  the 
drawing-room."  Mrs.  Forbes  quitted  her  chair. 
But  her  eyes,  reproachful  and  shining  with  resent 
ment  through  the  moisture  that  had  beset  them, 
were  fixed  upon  Tremaine.  A  sudden  impulse 
assailed  her;  she  yielded  to  it;  she  spoke  with 
almost  violent  heat. 

"  /  never  pretended  to  be  blameless,  Mr.  Tre 
maine,  and  you  have  good  reason  not  to  call  your 
self  so ! " 

His  brow  darkened.  He  left  his  chair,  and  went 
several  paces  toward  where  she  stood. 

"  What  do  you  mean,"  he  demanded,  with  chal 
lenging  directness. 

"1  mean,"  answered  Mrs.  Forbes,  with  the  look 
of  one  goaded  into  heedless  rage,  "  that  it  would 
be  well  to  reform  your  own  conduct  before  you 
fling  slurs  at  mine  !  All  Newport  knows  that  you 
spend  hours  at  Mrs.  Fortescue's  house,  and  that 
you  have  revived  an  intimacy  which  is  shameful  to 
yourself  as  it  is  disrespectful  and  unmanly  toward 
your  wife ! " 


230  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

Tremaine  turned  very  pale.  His  eyes  swept 
Leah's  face  ;  then  he  gave  a  scornful  laugh,  turned 
on  his  heel,  and  passed  from  the  room.  .  .  . 

About  a  half-hour  later  he  and  Leah  met  in  the 
lower  hall.  Lights  had  been  lit ;  the  dusk  had  be 
come  night.  Leah  was  on  the  point  of  passing 
into  the  rear  drawing-room.  But  she  paused  as 
she  saw  her  husband  descend  the  stairs. 

He  held  a  collapsed  opera-hat  in  one  hand. 
Across  one  arm  he  had  flung  a  light  overcoat. 
As  his  step  left  the  staircase,  Leah,  still  standing 
exactly  where  she  had  first  paused,  said  to  him : 

"  Were  you  going  out  ?  " 

"  Yes.     Has  that  woman  gone  ?  " 

"  Mrs.  Forbes  has  gone.  ...  I  wish  to  speak  a 
few  words  with  you." 

They  faced  each  other.  Tremaine  coolly  took 
out  his  watch  and  glanced  at  it.  "  I  have  an  en 
gagement,"  he  said,  with  matter-of-fact  brevity. 

"  What  I  wish  to  say  will  not  detain  you  long," 
returned  Leah. 

He  gave  a  faint  shrug  of  the  shoulders.  "  Oh, 
very  well.  As  you  please." 

She  at  once  passed  into  the  drawing-room.  Two 
lamps  in  shades  of  rose-colored  silk  starred  its  at 
tractive,  modish  interior,  where  }^ou  noted  the 
warm  gleam  of  a  rug  or  two  strewn  on  light- 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  231 

tinted  flooring,  the  luminous  oval  of  a  Venetian 
mirror,  or  the  airy  outline  of  a  gilded  bamboo 
screen. 

Tremaine  threw  himself  into  a  commodious  chair 
and  waited.  Leah  moved  toward  one  of  the  small 
tables  on  which  a  lamp  was  burning.  The  pink 
tinge  flung  across  her  countenance  decreased  its 
pallor,  but  in  her  close-joined  lips  and  unwavering 
gaze  lay  subdued  yet  distinct  resolve. 

"  I  said  that  I  would  not  detain  you  long,"  she 
began.  "  Unpleasant  things  are  best  spoken 
quickly ;  they  are  also  best  referred  to  by  sugges 
tion  rather  than  detailed  statement.  Mrs.  Forbes's 
very  plain  accusation  saves  me  from  doing  more 
than  mention  it,  and  enables  me  at  once  to  ask 
you,  Is  her  charge  a  true  one  ?  " 

There  was  a  dead  silence  of  several  seconds. 
Tremaine  stared  down  at  one  of  his  glistening 
boots  while  it  lasted.  Then  he  raised  his  head 
and  met  Leah's  answering  eye. 

"  Do  you  want  to  make  a  scene  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  It  is  what  I  wish  to  avoid.  My  question  can 
be  very  well  answered  without  one."  Her  tones 
were  ice  itself.  Her  flinchless  look  made  him 
avert  his  own. 

"  You  have  made  up  your  mind  that  I  shall  an 
swer  ?  Suppose,  then,  I  refuse  ? ?> 


232  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

She  instantly  said  :  "  I  shall,  in  that  case,  assume 
that  you  have  answered  by  an  affirmative." 

She  saw  a  sneer  commence  about  his  mouth, 
under  its  blond  shadowing  growth,  which  he  was 
now  stroking  quickly  with  one  hand.  "  And  if  I 
totally  deny  this  charge  ?  " 

"  Then  I  shall  be  certain  that  you  have  uttered 
a  falsehood." 

He  sprang  to  his  feet  with  a  suppressed  oath. 
She  had  pierced  the  crust  of  the  fine  gentleman. 
"  Do  you  suppose  I  will  stand  being  made  sport  of 
in  this  ridiculous  style?"  he  said.  "So  you  in 
tended  to  set  a  trap  for  me,  did  you  ?  Well, 
believe  that  vulgar  little  Western  minx,  if  you 
please.  I'm  sick  of  her  and  you,  both." 

"  I  set  no  trap,"  said  Leah,  with  her  words  as 
swift,  now,  as  her  tones  were  controlled.  "I 
merely  gave  you  the  chance  of  admitting  your 
guilt." 

"Guilt!"  he  exclaimed.  "Bah!"  He  raised 
the  finger  and  thumb  of  one  hand,  and  audibly 
snapped  them. 

"I  gave  you  the  chance  of  admitting  it,"  she 
went  steadily  en,  "  so  that  the  promise  I  shall  now 
exact  of  you  might  naturally  ensue  from  such  ad 
mission.  I  have  known  this  thing  for  months. 
Lucy  Forbes's  outburst  pained  me,  but  it  did  not 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  233 

bring  me  any  new  tidings.  All  in  all,  I  am  glad 
that  she  spoke  as  she  did.  She  has  marked  for 
me  the  limit  of  my  own  patience.  We  can  no 
longer  live  together  on  terms  that  will  make  such 
an  affirmation  possible  from  a  third  party.  I  exact 
a  sacred  promise  of  you.  It  is  this :  that  from  to 
night  henceforth  you  shall  never  enter  the  doors 
of  a  certain  woman,  and  shall  in  every  way  avoid 
even  the  exchange  of  a  word  with  her.  Let  me 
be  still  more  explicit.  Let  there  be  no  least  risk 
of  misunderstanding.  The  woman  to  whom  I 
allude  is  Mrs.  Abbott  Fortescue." 

He  threw  back  his  head  with  a  laugh  of  irony. 
"  It 's  astonishing,"  he  declared,  "  what  precious 
fools  we  can  sometimes  make  of  ourselves  without 
knowing  it!" 

"  To  be  uncivil  is  not  to  give  me  your  reply." 

He  repressed  another  laugh,  equally  full  of  con 
tempt.  "  Please  allow  me  a  few  days  to  reflect," 
he  said,  in  mockery,  going  to  the  chair  which  he 
had  quitted,  taking  from  its  side  his  overcoat,  re- 
flinging  this  lightly  across  one  arm,  and  then 
moving  toward  the  door. 

She  glided  several  paces  after  him.  She  had 
uplifted  her  right  hand.  "  I  want  the  promise  or 
the  refusal  to  promise,  now  —  at  once  !  "  she  said. 
And  there  was  so  stirring  a  solemnity  in  her  man- 


234  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

ner  and  intonation  that  it  put  all  his  assumed 
jauntiness  of  scorn  into  prompt  disarray. 

Half-turning,  he  frowned  very  darkly  at  her, 
over  one  shoulder.  "  You  '11  wait  for  a  long  time 
before  you  get  either !  "  he  retorted. 

The  key  of  Leah's  voice  heightened  then  ;  the 
immobility  of  her  manner  changed.  She  made  a 
gesture  of  excited  force  —  a  sweep  forward  of  both 
hands,  followed  by  their  rapid  withdrawal.  "  You 
refuse,  then  !  I  have  no  more  to  say.  To-morrow 
I  rejoin  mamma  in  New  York.  Afterward  I  re 
turn  to  your  house  but  on  one  condition  —  your 
promise,  as  before  described." 

She  wheeled  away  from  him  then.  But  he 
followed  her,  angry  almost  to  madness. 

"  You  will  dare  to  take  this  course  —  you  !  " 
he  said,  below  his  breath,  and  with  hoarseness. 
"  You  '11  forget  what  name  I  gave  you  when 

I  married  you ! what  a  place  I  raised  you 

to!" 

His  hands  were  clenched  at  his  sides  while  he 
spoke.  But  she  did  not  see  this ;  the  light  was 
too  irregularly  disposed  about  the  room,  perhaps, 
or  it  may  have  been  because  she  was  regarding 
him  across  her  shoulder,  as  he  had  done  with  her 
but  a  few  moments  since. 

"  You  raised  me  to  no  real  place,"  she  said,  still 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  235 

calmly,  yet  as  if  between  shut  teeth.  "  I  care 
nothing  for  what  yon  call  position.  I  thought  it 
something  far  finer  and  purer  than  what  it  has 
proved.  I  despise  in  it  all  that  you  respect.  I 
see  that  what  you  think  sound  and  high  is  flimsy 
and  low.  You  must  leave  that  woman  once  and 
forever,  or  I  will  not  live  with  you.  You  know 
that  I  have  been  living  with  you  for  none  of  the 
old  reasons.  Those  are  gone.  But  there  should 
have  been  a  maintenance  of  respectability — de 
cency,  between  us.  You  have  failed  to  meet  even 
these  last  requirements.  I  exact  that  promise  in 
the  hope  of  making  its  fulfilment  a  barrier  against 
the  separation  which  now  seems  certain." 

By  this  time  Tremaine's  anger  was  cooled.  He 
saw  the  reality  of  the  indignation  that  thus  ad 
dressed  him.  At  the  same  time  he  recalled  the 
exacted  promise. 

"  Do  as  you  please,"  he  said.  He  immediately 
passed  from  the  room.  .  .  . 

There  was  a  reception  that  night  at  one  of  the 
great  Newport  houses.  Leah  did  not  attend  it. 
She  retired  to  bed  at  a  late  hour,  but  lay  sleepless 
until  nearly  dawn,  thinking  sad  thoughts,  telling 
herself  that  hers  was  a  wasted  and  ruiifed  life. 
Such  a  short  time  ago  she  had  been  so  credulously 
and  trustfully  happy !  And  now  her  soul  had  a 


236  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

black  past  to  look  back  upon,  and  a  blank  future 
to  foresee.  Her  resolve  remained  unaltered.  She 
would  leave  for  New  York  early  on  the  following 
day.  Before  seeking  her  bed  she  had  dispatched 
the  telegram  of  which  we  know;  she  had  also 
packed  certain  portions  of  her  wardrobe  and  all 
her  jewels.  She  did  not  believe  that  her  husband 
and  herself  would  ever  live  together  again.  She 
meant  to  return  to  him  on  a  single  condition ;  he 
might  perhaps  make  her  return  possible ;  she  did 
not  much  care  whether  he  would  or  no ;  he  had 
become  despicable  in  her  sight.  The  man  whom 
she  had  loved  was  now  a  dim,  memorial  shadow ; 
the  man  whom  she  no  longer  loved  rose  before  her 
as  an  almost  hateful  actuality.  She  shed  but  a 
few  tears,  and  these  were  provoked  only  by  re 
flections  on  her  mother's  coming  pain,  her  mother's 
rich,  waiting  sympathy.  "  Poor  mamma  ! "  her 
lips  whispered,  again  and  again. 

Strangely,  and  yet  not  strangely,  the  grave, 
strong  face  of  Lawrence  Rainsford  shaped  itself 
to-night  before  her  mental  vision.  She  did  not 
know  whether  his  love  for  her  yet  lived  or  not. 
But  she  remembered  what  that  love  had  been. 
And  she  thought  of  the  stanch,  manful  nature 
whose  devotion  she  had  held  at  so  slight  a  worth. 
Why  could  she  not  have  loved  Rainsford?  Her 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  237 

mother  had  been  so  right  in  wanting  her  to  love 
him !  If  only  she  could  live  that  vanished  time 
over  again,  aided  by  her  present  dolorous  experi 
ence  !  Might  she  not  then  see,  understand,  appre 
ciate,  and  so  love?  Yes,  beyond  doubt!  And 
how  different  it  would  all  have  been  !  No  bleed 
ing  wound  —  no  shattered  ideal  —  no  palsied 
hope ! 

It  was  almost  dawn  when  she  heard  a  carriage 
stop  at  the  gate  below.  Then  she  heard  voices  of 
men,  now  loud  and  now  faint.  She  rose  and  went 
to  the  window,  peering  forth.  She  saw  three 
figures  moving  up  along  the  garden  path.  The 
central  figure  walked  insecurely  and  in  a  tottering 
way ;  it  was  supported,  apparently,  by  those  on 
either  side  of  it.  She  guessed  the  truth,  though 
she  had  not  recognized  her  husband.  She  with 
drew  from  the  window,  loath  to  see  more.  Then 
she  waited.  A  step  presently  sounded  upon  the 
outer  stairs.  It  was  so  unsteady  that  it  suggested 
the  most  perilous  insecurity ;  it  was  indeed  a  suc 
cession  of  irregular  stamps.  But  the  sounds  grad 
ually  grew  nearer.  A  little  later  she  heard  them 
in  the  hall.  Tremaine's  apartment  was  at  the 
head  of  the  stairs.  He  had  but  a  short  space  to 
traverse  before  reaching  it.  To  Leah,  while  she 
listened  intently,  it  seemed  as  if  the  staggering 


238  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

gait  must  soon  end  in  some  sort  of  overthrow  and 
collapse,  so  noisy  a  stumble  had  it  now  become. 
A  moment  later  this  fear  was  verified.  A  dull, 
heavy  fall  now  followed.  She  stood  irresolute  for 
a  little  time ;  then  she  lighted  a  candle  and  put 
on  a  loose  wrapper  over  her  night-dress.  Very 
quietly,  though  she  was  shivering  as  if  a  cold  gust 
had  assailed  her,  she  went  out  into  the  hall.  The 
light  that  she  carried  presently  showed  her  an 
inert  form,  lying  prone  across  the  threshold  of  an 
open  doorway.  She  regarded  this  form  for  a 
longer  time  than  she  knew,  while  holding  the 
candle  uplifted  in  one  tremulous  hand.  The  face, 
with  its  closed  eyes  and  the  stentorous  breathing 
that  issued  from  its  half-shut  lips,  fascinated  her 
by  its  familiar  beauty,  once  so  treasured  as  the 
symbol  of  an  exceptional  spirit ! 

It  was  a  terrible  moment  with  Leah.  Memories 
swept  through  her,  each  piercing  in  its  dread  ap 
peal.  She  recalled  her  past  estimate  of  this  man ; 
she  revived  her  old  belief  in  him ;  she  saw  again 
those  graces  and  charms  which  had  won  her  to  link 
her  own  life  with  his.  And  yet  there  he  lay, 
prostrate,  incapable,  an  incarnate  denial  of  her 
faith,  a  dumb  refutation  of  her  respect.  She  gazed 
upon  the  merciless  evidence  of  a  misjudgment  that 
must  vibrate  through  all  her  future  life.  What 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  239 

savage  irony  it  seemed  that  this  grossness  should 
lie  before  her  as  the  palpable  product  of  a  ro 
mance,  a  sentiment,  an  enthusiasm  ! 

There  are  brief  intervals  in  many  a  human  ex- 
pei  ence  when  the  soul  almost  proves  itself  an 
incorporal  force,  unconditioned  by  flesh;  it  grows 
very  wisely  and  drearily  old  while  the  body  yet 
remains  young.  .  .  .  Leah  stooped  and  touched 
her  husband's  shoulder ;  but  it  would  have  taken 
a  rougher  grasp  than  any  which  she  could  employ 
to  rouse  him  from  that  despised  stupor.  Still,  she 
had  a  fair  store  of  strength,  and  shame  now  gave  a 
spur  to  its  use.  She  set  down  her  candle  on  the 
floor  of  the  hall.  Then,  clinching  her  teeth  as  we 
do  when  a  task  that  we  abhor  confronts  us,  she 
again  bent  down  and  clutched  either  shoulder,  so 
seeking  to  drag  the  supine  frame  farther  into  the 
bedchamber.  She  might  have  succeeded  better  in 
her  pathetic  effort,  had  not  a  weakness  —  born  per 
haps  of  humiliation  and  disgust  —  suddenly  over 
come  her.  As  it  was,  she  moved  the  fallen  shape 
only  a  few  inches.  That  nerveless  desperation 
which  in  some  feminine  temperaments  is  the  pre 
lude  of  hysteria,  rushed  over  her  as  she  desisted 
from  the  attempt.  She  felt  like  screaming  aloud 
—  like  perversely  bruiting  her  forlorn  pain  abroad 
amid  the  darkness  and  silence  ! 


240  TINKLING  CYMBALS. 

But  immediately  this  wild  impulse  fled ;  it  had 
transiently  jarred  her  sanity,  and  nothing  more. 
Fresh  and  cooler  energy  resulted  from  it.  She 
saw  that  the  disposition  of  the  limbs  now  chiefly 
prevented  the  door  from  being  closed  and  the 
whole  body  hidden  within  the  room.  Still,  the 
body  itself  required  further  displacement.  Not 
long  afterward  she  had  made  her  second  trial  with 
success.  ...  The  door  just  grazed  Tremaine's 
dragged  bulk  as  she  closed  it.  Then  she  locked 
it  on  the  inside,  and  at  once  passed,  by  other 
means  of  communication,  back  into  her  own 
chamber. 

When  she  had  reached  it  her  emotion  underwent 
a  new  and  odd  change.  She  burst  into  soft,  un 
controllable  laughter,  while  the  tears  stole  down 
her.  white  cheeks.  Nor  was  even  this  manifesta 
tion  one  of  hysteria.  The  sense  of  humor,  always 
strong  with  her,  had  abruptly  intruded  itself,  like 
a  daring  and  unbidden  guest,  upon  her  dumb, 
desolate  misery.  The  indulgence  of  this  weird 
mirth,  at  so  intensely  unreasonable  a  time,  went 
with  full  perception  of  its  ghastly  discordance. 
She  made  a  most  woful  picture,  seated  with  her 
lovely  hair  half  loosened  in  the  dim  candle-light. 
That  fearful,  mute  laughter  was  like  the  farewell 
of  her  own  dying  youth.  It  had  a  strange  and 


TINKLING  CYMBALS.  241 

darksome  consistency,  too ;  it  was  a  mournful 
echo  of  the  old  girlish  fault,  so  alert  to  see  and 
ridicule  any  decisive  failing  in  her  fellows. 

Her  beauty  was  never  the  same  after  that  night. 
Its  freshness  had  vanished.  It  was  tenderer,  more 
appealing,  more  poetic  —  as  though  the  erect  deli 
cacy  of  the  alder  had  been  gently  given  the  down 
ward  curve  of  the  real  willow.  People  afterward 
said  of  Leah  that  she  had  faded.  This  was  true, 
and  yet  the  difference  held  a  wistful  interest.  Her* 
face  told  you  that  she  had  lived ;  her  brown  eyes 
burned  as  if  they  had  known  tears;  her  fair, 
chaste  brow  looked  as  if  sorrow  had  shadowed  it ; 
her  smile,  no  longer  brilliant,  beamed  with  that 
autumnal  sweetness  which  we  all  know  in  the 
quality  of  a  sun-ray  when  its  warmth  has  ebbed 
yet  when  its  light  has  grown  mellower. 

Leah  started  for  New  York  at  an  early  hour  on 
the  following  day.  She  did  not  see  her  husband 
before  leaving  the  house  ;  she  was  not  even  aware 
if  his  vinous  torpor  had  ceased  or  no.  She  hated 
and  yet  loved  the  thought  of  meeting  her  mother. 

When  they  did  meet,  which  was  happily  in  the 
presence  of  no  observer,  she  clung  to  Mrs.  Rom- 
illy's  neck  with  a  prolonged  paroxysm  of  sobs. 
Then,  after  the  calm  had  followed  the  storm,  she 
narrated  everything. 


242  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"Did  I  do  right,  mamma?"  she  questioned. 
"Tell  me!  I  have  lost  the  old  wilful  way  of 
always  judging  for  myself.  I  want  you  to  judge 
for  me,  with  that  wisdom  of  yours  which  I  have 
sometimes  treated  so  irreverently.  But  I  never 
meant  to  treat  it  so  —  I  never  did,  really  —  I 
only  pretended.  Tell  me,  mamma!  If  you  blame 
me,  I  will  believe  you !  If  you  approve  me,  I 
will  believe  you !  Which  is  it  to  be  ?  How  am 
I  to  act  ?  Shall  I  break  my  resolve  ?  Shall  I  go 
back  to  him  before  he  makes  the  promise  ?  If  he 
never  makes  the  promise,  shall  I  still  go  back  to 
him  ?  Ah !  that  will  be  hard  ;  and  yet  your  an 
swer,  however  given,  shall  be  my  law.  You  knew 
so  well  at  first !  You  advised,  you  remonstrated, 
but  I  heard  and  yet  would  not  hear !  If  only  I 
had  heeded  and  obeyed !  How  few  women  have 
ever  lived  who  have  had  such  a  mother  as  I ! 
And  how  I  have  undervalued  you !  Now,  when 
it  is  too  late,  I  see  the  headstrong  folly  of  it  all ! 
I  don't  ask  you  to  forgive  me.  You  are  so  large 
in  soul  and  heart  that  you  always  forgive  easily. 
I  would  have  said  '  too  easily '  in  those  other  days. 
But  I  don't  say  it  now.  I  see  you  in  your  full 
perfection.  Tears  clear  the  eyes  so — you  once 
said  something  of  that  sort  to  me — it  was  not 
very  long  ago  ...  do  you  remember  ?  I  '11  lean 


TINKLING    CYMBALS.  243 

on  you  like  a  staff,  if  you  '11  only  let  me.  And  I 
know  you  will  let  me.  Ah !  talk  of  love !  I 
never  loved  any  one  but  you,  and  never  shall! 
That  may  have  been  my  real  error,  mamma,  dar 
ling!  I  was  in  love  with  you  —  yes,  only  you  — 
and  did  not  know  it !  " 

"Leah,"  said  Mrs.  Romilly,  after  this  soft  tirade 
had  ended,  "you  must  not  go  back  to  him  until 
he  gives  you  the  promise.  You  were  right.  I 
shall  tell  him  so  when  we  meet  —  if  we  are  des 
tined  soon  to  meet." 

They  were  so  destined.  Two  days  later  Tre- 
maine  presented  himself  at  the  house.  He  asked 
for  Leah,  but  Mrs.  Romilly  received  him. 

He  was  dressed  with  his  former  precision.  He 
looked  extremely  aristocratic.  He  spoke  with  all 
his  best  nicety  and  composure.  "  I  am  forced  to 
tell  you,"  he  said,  very  early  in  the  conversation, 
"  that  I  wish  to  see  my  wife,  and  no  ambassadress 
between  herself  and  me." 

"Your  wife  will  not  see  you,"  replied  Mrs. 
Romilly,  firm  as  stone. 

He  quietly  nodded.  "I  see  you  have  coun 
selled  her." 

"  I  have.  And  yet  my  counsel  was  needless,  I 
think.  Her  leaving  you  was  a  proof  of  that. 
She  exacts  a  promise.  You  must  give  it,  or  she 
will  never  notice  you  again." 


244  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

He  looked  at  the  speaker  with  a  polite  scorn. 
"If  I  were  not  a  gentleman,"  he  said,  "I  should 
call  you  a  very  officious  and  disagreeable  mother- 
in-law." 

"  You  are  not  a  gentleman,"  said  Mrs.  Romilly, 
softly.  "  You  have  shown  it  beyond  mistake." 

Tremaine  pressed  his  lips  together,  and  his  eye 
lids  lowered.  Rage,  though  held  within  bounds, 
was  never  expressed  more  surely. 

"You  want  a  separation — perhaps  a  divorce," 
he  said. 

"  I  want  a  reformation,"  answered  Mrs.  Romilly. 

He  drew  a  long  breath.  "Ah !  "  he  murmured, 
"you  advocate  morality  now.  You  have  deserted 
your  former  laxities  of  opinion." 

At  this  insult  Mrs.  Romilly  gave  a  faint,  pitying 
smile.  "If  I  had  not  already  told  you  that  you 
are  not  a  gentleman,"  she  said,  with  quiet  dignity, 
"you  might  have  cause  to  fancy  that  your  inso 
lence  troubled  me." 

Tremaine  looked  at  her  with  repressed  dis 
dain.  "  It  seems  to  me,"  he  answered,  "  that  we 
address  each  other  from  wholly  different  stand 
points.  I  don't  think  I  should  like  your  idea  of 
a  gentleman.  Would  he  wear  long  hair  and 
preach  communism  ?  " 

Mrs.  Romilly  shook  her  head.     "  I  don't  know 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  245 

how  he  would  arrange  his  hair,"  she  replied;  "but 
lie  would  respect  his  marriage  vows,  and  he  would 
abstain  from  drunkenness." 

Tremaine  bit  his  lip.  His  mild  eyes  flashed  for 
an  instant.  He  walked  toward  the  door  of  the 
apartment,  but  paused  before  he  had  reached  its 
threshold. 

"  Such  women  as  you  are,"  he  said,  "  have  no 
real  sex.  If  I  were  as  bad  as  you  paint  me,  I 
might  remember  this  fact  to  your  bodily  harm." 

"  If  you  struck  me,"  replied  Mrs.  Romilly,  "  I 
should  not  be  at  all  surprised.  I  think  such  men 
as  you  are  have  often,  before  now,  struck  women. 
And  I  suppose  they  have  alwa}^  made  some 


A  silence  followed.  Tremaine,  with  averted 
face,  scanned  the  carpet.  Suddenly  he  turned 
toward  Mrs.  Romilly,  and  said,  in  considerably 
changed  tones  :  "  I  want  my  wife  to  live  with  me 
again.  I  have  my  reasons  for  wanting  her  to  do 
so.  You  and  I  hate  each  other.  Agreed.  A  cer 
tain  promise  is  required  of  me.  Suppose  I  make 
that  promise  ?  " 

"If  you  make  it,  your  wife  will  return  to  you. 
If  you  keep  it,  she  will  live  with  you.  But  these 
are  the  sole  conditions.  And  I  do  not  hate  you. 
I  hate  no  one." 


246  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

He  tossed  his  head.  There  appeared  to  be 
scorn  in  his  concession  while  he  gave  it.  "Very 
well,"  he  said;  "I'm  willing  to  make  such  a 
promise." 

"To  Leah  herself?" 

"  To  Leah  herself." 

Mrs.  Romilly  at  once  withdrew.  Leah  pres 
ently  appeared  in  her  stead. 


XII. 

A  LL  publicity  of  scandal  was  for  the  time 
•*~V  avoided.  By  a  week  or  two  later,  Leah  and 
her  husband  were  occupying  their  former  New 
York  residence.  For  several  weeks  afterward  Tre- 
maine  conducted  himself  with  a  scrupulous  ob 
servance  of  reputable  usage.  There  had  been  no 
formal  reconciliation.  Perhaps  both  shrank  from 
this,  as  from  a  needless  hypocrisy.  Tremaine  was 
admirably  courteous,  however.  He  had  a  faultless 
set  of  manners ;  they  were  like  a  perfectly-equipped 
dressing-case,  in  which  nothing  is  wanting,  from 
the  ivory-backed  hair-brush  to  the  little  silver  box 
for  holding  soap.  Leah  would  sometimes  watch 
him  in  secret  consternation.  She  wondered  if  any 
hard,  voluptuous  and  narrow  spirit  ever  clad  itself 
in  softer  and  more  tasteful  guise.  That  was  the 
sole  meaning  of  Tremaine  —  he  had  good  taste. 
It  ruled  him  as  a  creed,  and  covered  him  like  a 
garment.  His  cruel  comments  regarding  others, 
his  choice  of  reading,  his  selection  of  apparel,  his 
mode  of  dining,  his  bow,  his  smile,  his  favorite 

247 


248  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

phrase,  were  all  set  in  one  key  of  good  taste.  The 
vice  which  had  begun  to  victimize  him,  stealing  in 
by  the  path  of  selfishness,  was  wholly  irrelevant 
to  this  dainty  nicety.  He  was  the  last  man  in  the 
world,  you  might  have  said,  who  would  have  taken 
to  drink.  But  intemperance  is  very  often  the 
Nemesis  of  a  man's  own  callous  inhumanity.  A 
life  wed  to  idleness  and  swayed  solely  by  personal 
concern  will  sometimes  hoard  unawares  a  store  of 
venom,  through  which  may  come  to  it,  in  slow  but 
certain  way,  the  death  of  the  viper  that  has  stung 
its  own  flesh. 

Leah  and  her  husband  now  rarely  appeared  in 
society  together.  It  would  have  been  fortunate  at 
this  period  if  a  child  had  been  given  her.  She 
would  have  lavished  upon  it  untold  affection  and 
derived  infinite  comfort  from  the  protective  duties 
of  motherhood.  She  had  flung  away  husks,  and 
hungered  for  true  nourishment.  Suffering  had 
drawn  a  veil  from  her  eyes ;  she  looked  at  the 
world  as  a  place  in  which  thousands  were  daily 
feeling  worse  pangs  than  hers,  and  where  the  vast 
common  ills  of  her  race  could  be  fought  with  no 
weapon  save  a  resolute  charity.  Many  noble  say 
ings  of  her  mother  shone  as  if  in  golden  letters 
through  the  clearing  mists  of  memory.  And  her 
love  for  that  mother,  always  profound  though  often 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  249 

so  erratic  in  its  display,  now  became  a  steadfast 
tribute,  more  fond  than  the  one  which  Lawrence 
Kainsford  had  long  paid,  and  yet  quite  as  rever 
ential. 

Rainsford  and  she  now  often  met  at  her  mother's 
dwelling.  It  never  occurred  to  Leah  that  his  old 
wound  had  not  healed.  Seeing  all  things  in  a  new 
light,  she  saw  herself  as  a  kind  of  maimed  failure. 
She  could  not  have  brought  herself  to  believe  that 
he  regarded  her  in  any  wise  except  with  a  generous 
pity. 

"  Why  has  Rainsford  never  married  ?  "  she  said 
to  her  mother,  one  day.  "  There  must  be  so  many 
good  women  who  would  most  gladly  join  their  fu 
ture  with  his.  It  would  be  like  setting  out  to  sea 
in  a  stanch  ship  that  wreck  has  no  terrors  for." 

Mrs.  Romilly  gave  a  smile  of  involuntary  sad 
ness. 

"  In  one  of  your  talks  together,"  she  replied, 
"you  might  ask  him.  Perhaps  he  would  tell 
you." 

But  Leah  did  not  ask.  These  talks  to  which 
Mrs.  Romilly  referred  were  sometimes  held  in  her 
sitting-room  during  a  brief  absence  of  her  own. 

"  You  grow  more  famous  every  year,"  Leah  once 
said  to  him.  "  The  critics  all  have  a  kind  word 
for  you,  too.  That  means  a  great  deal." 


250  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

It  was  a  mild  afternoon,  and  the  room  where 
they  sat  was  full  of  declining  yet  still  vivid  sun 
light.  Leah  looked  veiy  lovely.  She  wore  a  dark 
bonnet  that  brought  into  richer  relief  her  golden 
hair,  above  the  pure,  exquisitely  refined  face.  Her 
hands,  in  their  long  gloves,  were  crossed  upon  her 
lap.  To  the  artistic  eye  of  Rainsford  no  lissom 
trait  of  her  figure,  in  its  sombre-hued,  clinging 
draperies,  had  been  lost.  She  leaned  a  little  toward 
him  as  she  spoke  these  last  words,  and  he  could 
not  but  feel  how  changed  she  was,  while  yet,  in  all 
graces  of  physical  enticement,  so  winningly  her 
former  self. 

"I  often  think  it  may  mean  very  little,"  he 
said,  "when  all  the  critics  have  a  kind  word  for 

you." 

"  No,  no,"  objected  Leah.  "  I  believe  that  the 
best  critics  set  the  fashion  for  the  inferior  ones. 
The  last  are  mere  copyists,  I  should  say.  And 
when  there  is  a  war  of  opinion,  it  is  because  the 
best  follow  different  models — that  is,  the  few  who 
know  of  what  they  write  are  insecure  and  disturbed 
in  their  judgments." 

"But  real  greatness  always  disturbs  the  real 
critics,"  said  Rainsford,  smiling  with  interest.  "At 
least  in  the  beginning." 

"Not  always,"  responded  Leah.     "This  age  is 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  251 

so  keen-sighted  and  live  a  one  that  I  think  the  fine 
critics  are  apt  to  agree  about  the  fine  painters, 
poets,  musicians,  or  actors  nearly  as  soon  as  the 
world  sees  their  work.  I  question  if  Keats  would 
be  neglected  to-day.  I  think  Shakespeare  would 
be  idolized." 

"  I  did  not  know  you  had  such  great  faith  in 
your  century,"  said  Rainsford. 

"  I  have  immense  faith  in  it !  "  exclaimed  Leah. 
"  Mamma  will  tell  you  that !  We  have  had  some 
memorable  talks  together  lately  —  memorable,  I 
mean,  for  myself.  I  hold  it  to  be  the  grandest  age 
that  history  has  yet  recorded.  Think  of  the  prob 
lems  solved,  the  educational  progress  made,  the 
mighty  push  of  science,  the  splendid  achievements 
of  art!  "...  She  paused  for  a  moment  and  gave 
a  faint  sigh,  not  so  faint  that  he  failed  distinctly 
to  catch  its  sound.  "  Ah,"  she  presently  went  on, 
looking  straight  at  him  with  a  melting  sympathy 
in  her  brown  eyes :  "  How  happy  are  they  who 
really  belong  to  the  age  —  who  represent  it 
by  stable  accomplishment  and  by  sincere  pur 
pose  ! " 

"Do  you  speak  with  envy  of  such?"  he  ques 
tioned,  quite  off  his  guard.  "  You  ?  " 

The  color  slowly  flushed  Leah's  face.  "I,  at 
least,  have  the  right  to  envy  them,"  she  answered. 


252  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"But  you  used  to  think  so  differently,"  he  be 
gan.  And  then  her  hand,  lifted  with  a  soft  impa 
tience,  interrupted  him. 

"  Pray  do  not  refer  to  what  I  used  to  think,  or 
what  I  used  to  be  !  "  she  gently  cried. 

"  I  will  not,  if  it  displeases  you,"  he  said. 

"  It  does  not  displease  me  —  it  pains  and  shames 
me.  I  had  no  excuse  for  my  contracted  views  of 
things.  You  know  what  a  mother  was  mine.  I 
was  reared  under  the  shadow  of  her  wisdom  and 
strength,  yet  I  gained  nothing  from  either.  I  let 
the  merest  superficialities  deceive  me.  I  shut  my 
ears  to  the  large  music  of  life ;  I  deliberately  lis 
tened  only  to  the  sounding  brass  and  the  tinkling 
cymbals."  .  .  .  She  sighed  again,  bowing  her  beau 
tiful  head. 

Rainsford  watched  her  in  silence  for  several 
seconds.  Compassion  deeply  stirred  him.  Per 
haps  if  he  had  not  let  a  slight  interval  succeed 
her  last  words  his  own  would  have  been  less  firm 
and  secure  of  utterance. 

"  I  think  that  I  understand  you  very  clearly," 
he  said.  "  You  misvalued  the  exterior  meaning 
of  society.  What  is  bright  and  felicitous  in  a  cer 
tain  part  of  it  misled  you,  at  a  first  view,  into  sup 
posing  that  no  hollowness  lay  below." 

Leah  lifted  her  eyes  to  his.     They  were  full  of 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  253 

eager  meaning.     She  raised  both  hands  and  waved 
them  slightly  while  she  spoke. 

"I  was  charmed  by  external  glitter  —  nothing 
more.  I  thought  that  perfect  manners  meant  per 
fect  morals.  I  have  seen  my  wretched  mistake.  For 
this  reason  it  is  not  strange  that  I  have  clung  to  cer 
tain  people.  The  Marksley  sisters,  for  example ; 
with  all  their  frivolity  I  find  that  they  somehow 
ring  true.  And  Mrs.  Chichester  .  .  .  with  all  her 
belief  in  gentility  and  keeping  up  a  perpetual 
heaped  altar  before  it,  I  have  seen  in  that  woman  a 
certain  cleanly  self-respect  which  leads  me  to  feel  as 
if  she  were  of  the  stuff  that  what  is  best  in  antique 
aristocracies  must  have  been  made  of.  She  is  at 
least  loyal  to  her  own  traditions ;  she  is  stagnant 
in  her  conservatisms,  but  the  stagnancy  has  noth 
ing  foul  about  it.  And  then  there  is  little  Mrs. 
Forbes,  too,  with  her  pending  divorce,  which  I  am 
sure  she  will  get  —  a  woman  whom  great  wrongs 
have  not  yet  soured,  and  whose  laugh  is  still  as 
merry  as  her  heart  is  good,  while  she  stands  up 
bravely  against  a  husband  who  would  have  liter 
ally  ground  her  under  his  heel.  These  people  all 
love  what  I  have  latterly  got  to  hate  —  the  sense 
less  whirl  of  fashionable  pleasures.  Yet  there  is 
a  bond  between  us ;  in  their  different  ways  they 
assure  me  that  the  faith  to  which  I  was  once  so 


254  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

zealous  a  convert  has  not  all  its  members  cut  after 
the  same  valueless  pattern.  They  save  me  from 
too  sweeping  a  disapproval ;  they  prevent  me  from 
being  an  extremist  in  my  condemnation." 

Rainsford  shook  his  head.  "  I  fear  your  con 
version  is  yet  too  partial,"  he  replied.  "  Best  if 
it  were  absolute.  I  think  that  as  your  outlook 
widens  it  will  become  so.  These  exclusionists, 
who  base  their  assumptions  of  superiority  on  the 
shadow  they  call  birth  or  the  substance  they  call 
wealth,  deserve  an  unqualified  censure.  They  are 
the  curse  of  our  republic;  in  a  manner  they 
threaten  its  advancement  and  its  prosperity. 
They  are  a  taint  in  its  rich  young  blood,  and 
they  mean  a  chronic  malady  whose  development 
must  work  incalculable  harm."  His  voice  loud 
ened  as  he  continued  to  speak,  and  his  demeanor 
changed  its  habitual  repose  for  an  indignant  ardor. 
"Aristocracy  has  no  right  of  existence  within  this 
land.  The  frauds  and  corruptions  in  our  politics 
are  not  one-half  so  perilous  as  this  other  rapidly- 
increasing  ill.  Our  dishonest  state-craft  has 
sprung,  after  all,  from  democracy  itself;  democ 
racy,  who  is  responsible  for  it,  ma}'  one  day  cure  it 
with  her  own  medicines.  But  this  aping  of  what 
had  its  rise  long  ago  in  the  dark  feudal  ages  of 
Europe  —  this  subservience  to  a  vicious  and  de- 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  255 

grading  vanity  —  this  open  and  cruel  sneer  at  the 
very  laws  by  which  our  country  must  either  shape 
her  destiny  or  perish  —  ah  !  that  is  quite  another 
matter !  The  great  social  inequalities  of  our  un 
completed  civilization  are  lamentable  enough ;  but 
education  is  always  waging  her  war  against  these, 
and  it  is  not  a  millennial  dream  to  trust  that  she 
may  one  day  vastly  modify  if  she  does  not  wholly 
annul  them.  But  when  pretentious  braggarts 
have  succeeded  in  making  new  social  inequalities, 
feeding  the  bigotry  which  applauds  them  upon 
their  own  hoarded  capital,  what  shall  prevent  the 
national  spirit  itself  from  sinking  to  a  level  with 
this  disastrous  change?  Our  government  will 
lapse  into  monarchism  —  that  poisonous  nourish 
ment  on  which  the  patrician  idea  has  in  all  times 
most  malignantly  thriven.  There  is  not  a  very 
wide  step  between  the  monopolist  of  millions  who 
drives  a  pompous  drag  up  Fifth  Avenue  and  the 
miscalled  *  nobleman'  who  has  received  from  his 
king  the  preposterous  hereditary  right  of  making 
a  country's  laws.  To  my  own  ears  there  is  an 
ominous  mutter  of  revolutionary  bloodshed  at  this 
very  hour  in  our  land.  I  sometimes  almost  wish 
that  such  calamity  might  fall  upon  us  quickly,  if 
any  vital  good  were  to  follow.  Yet  revolutions 
too  often  accomplish  nothing  save  ruin.  Mean- 


256  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

while  the  luxuriously  selfish  class  yearly  grows 
larger.  American  society,  as  it  is  called,  is  no 
longer  provincial;  the  clay  for  declaring  it  so  is 
past.  People  come  to  us  from  European  courts 
and  marvel  at  the  scale  of  splendor  on  which  our 
revelries  are  conducted.  We  are  foreign  and  imi 
tative  only  in  our  snobbery  —  and,  perhaps  I  might 
add,  our  immorality." 

There  was  no  touch  of  cynicism  about  Rains- 
ford's  final  sentence.  He  spoke  it  with  lowered 
tones  and  an  accent  of  unquestionable  regret. 

"  If  you  hold  these  opinions,"  said  Leah,  after  a 
slight  silence,  — "and  I  scarcely  dissent  from  any 
of  them  —  then  you  seem  to  me  all  the  more  envi 
able,  because,  while  so  near  a  movement  in  which 
you  scorn  to  participate,  you  can  absorb  yourself 
with  worthy  and  durable  occupation."  She  looked 
very  helpless  for  a  moment,  lifting  her  brows  and 
letting  her  eyes  wander  transiently  past  Rainsford 
rather  than  meet  his  own.  "I  think  of  it  so 
often,"  she  murmured.  "  I  mean  the  need  of  a 
purpose,  a  pursuit.  I  have  no  real  talent.  The 
women  who  paint  pottery  and  disfigure  mantels 
with  abnormal  sunflowers,  don't  spur  me  into  any 
rivalry.  I  am  just  beginning  to  feel  what  a  hard 
doom  it  is,  this  being  forced  to  sit  with  idle  hands 
in  a  century  that  is  so  busy,  so  creative,  so  ener 
getic!" 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  257 

"  I  think  that  no  one  is  forced  to  sit  with  idle 
hands,  unless  ill  health  compels  it." 

She  looked  at  him  with  a  great  directness. 
"  Tell  me  what  I  can  do,"  she  said.  "  I  think  you 
can  tell  me  quite  as  well  as  mamma  could ;  and  I 
hate  to  let  mamma  see  that  I  am  unhappy  or  even 
distraite" 

"  Did  it  ever  strike  you,"  slowly  answered 
Rainsford,  "  what  an  active  woman  your  mother 
is?  how  she  concerns  herself  with  many  silent, 
unostentatious  charities  ?  how  she  visits  the  sick, 
personally  inquires  into  the  needs  of  the  poor, 
advising,  consoling,  encouraging  both  ?  I  have 
watched  your  mother's  life  well  for  years  past.  It 
seems  to  me  more  finely  correspondent  to  the  best 
essential  meaning  of  Christian  precepts  than  any 
other  which  my  experience  has  record  of." 

Leah  mused  for  a  little  while,  her  eyes  brighten 
ing  in  a  meditative,  convinced  way. 

"How  strange!"  she  presently  broke  forth. 
"  Mamma's  goodness  has  become  a  commonplace 
to  me.  I  have  taken  it  for  granted  since  my  early 
girlhood,  as  though  it  were  the  charming  hazel  of 
her  eyes  or  the  unblemished  whiteness  of  her 
hands.  ...  If  I  could  only  join  her  in  those 
modest  and  patient  deeds  of  help  !  If  I  could 
get  her  to  let  me  sit  at  her  feet  and  learn  how  to 


258  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

be  of  use  in  the  world !  .  .  .  Ah !  I  talk  as  if  it 
were  difficult!"  Leah's  voice  faltered  now,  and 
she  passed  a  fleet  hand  over  either  eye,  in  that 
way  which  has  but  one  import.  "  I  shall  use 
some  of  my  old  tyranny,"  she  went  on,  giving 
a  little  laugh  replete  with  sadness.  "  I  shall  be 
rebellious,  as  I  so  often  was  in  the  past.  She 
will  accede  then;  she  is  so  used  to  my  defiant 
moods." 

Leah's  voice  lingered  over  these  ending  words. 
They  were  invested,  for  Rainsford,  with  a  supreme 
melancholy.  Their  wistful  irony  literally  pierced 
him  by  its  pathos.  What  a  transformation  they 
revealed,  and  what  a  piteous  remorse ! 

Leah's  conquest  of  her  mother  was  an  easy  one. 
It  was,  in  truth,  no  conquest,  but  a  surprised  and 
glad  acquiescence  on  Mrs.  Romilly's  part.  Still,  a 
strong  tinge  of  sorrow  colored  her  joy.  Leah  had 
bought  this  new  aspiration  at  a  dear  juice.  She 
had  gained  the  higher  path  and  she  was  willing  to 
tread  it ;  but  had  she  not  gained  it  with  bleeding 
feet  and  a  weary  heart  ? 

She  showed  a  quiet  enthusiasm  regarding  the 
fresh  motive  that  now  filled  her  days.  She  accom 
panied  her  mother  on  various  missions  of  relief, 
and  watched,  often  with  tear-dimmed  eyes,  those 
resolute,  practical  benignities  which  had  long  ago 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  259 

become  the  outward  though  unheralded  proof  of  a 
most  sincere  philanthropy. 

"  I  never  really  knew  till  now,  mamma,  just  how 
glorious  a  creature  you  are,"  she  would  say,  kiss 
ing  her.  "  I  suppose  it 's  on  the  same  principle  as 
when  people  have  lived  for  years  within  a  few 
miles  of  Niagara  and  never  been  there.  .  .  .  Well, 
I  've  made  my  visit  at  last,"  she  would  add,  with  a 
touch  of  her  former  gayety ;  "  I  've  been  across  to 
the  Canada  side  and  gone  under  the  Falls.  It's 
all  a  great  deal  more  wonderful  than  I  expected ; 
it  is  certainly  an  amazing  natural  curiosity." 

Leah  now  had  her  daily  routine  of  benevolence. 
She  constantly  witnessed  the  most  painful  sights. 
She  grew  familiar  with  the  worst  rigors  of  pov 
erty;  she  saw  the  awful  results  of  that  one  reg 
nant  vice,  drink  —  how  its  fangs  are  buried  in  the 
heart  of  so  many  homes,  and  its  coils  tightened 
round  so  many  struggling  lives ;  she  watched  the 
malign  despotism  of  inherited  disease,  wreaking 
its  harms  upon  the  new-born  infant,  sending  the 
youth  and  maiden  to  untimely  graves ;  she  noted 
the  sluggish  lethargy  with  which  ignorance  en 
thralls  countless  minds,  and  the  stubborn  down 
ward  push  that  it  gives  its  victims  into  deeds  for 
which  the  law  takes  fearful  toll.  She  realized  the 
immense  anguish  of  humanity,  and  how  feeble  a 


260  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

minority  of  it  has  crept  from  night  into  light. 
Perhaps  the  sturdy  philosophy  of  her  mother  alone 
guarded  her  now  against  the  dangers  of  a  bitter 
pessimism  ;  perhaps  it  kept  her  from  that  rash  in 
dignation  which  judges  all  evil  with  no  relenting 
palliative  —  from  the  futile  reasoning  which  de 
clares  sin  a  fixed  necessity  —  from  the  cold  intel- 
lectualism  which  cramps  all  morality  within  utilita 
rian  fetters — or  from  the  too  mawkish  compassion 
which  deplores  crime  with  over-facile  tears.  Leah 
soon  felt  her  mother's  truly  sublime  tolerance  in 
fused  into  soul  and  intellect.  She  found  herself 
forgetting  to  rail  at  the  ill  in  fighting  for  the 
good.  Meanwhile  she  met  a  few  other  women, 
full  of  heroism  and  sacrifice,  who  had  long  loved 
her  mother  and  served  under  her  lofty  leadership. 
Two  or  three  of  these  Leah  had  met  in  past  times. 
She  remembered,  now,  that  she  had  once  thought 
them  dowdy  and  dull  —  and  a  pang  of  conscience 
always  went  with  such  recollections.  It  was  true, 
she  told  herself,  with  her  old  turn  for  satire  show 
ing  even  in  her  present  repentance,  that  very  few 
of  these  courageous  workers  had  taken  the  leisure 
to  see  Newport  in  the  season,  and  that  none  of 
them  would  look  presentable  at  one  of  Mrs.  Chi- 
chester's  glittering  dinner-parties;  but  they  had 
their  trivial  duties  to  perform,  nevertheless,  even 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  261 

though  these  were  not  chronicled  among  the 
society-notes  in  the  morning  journals. 

Leah's  new  friends  were  of  various  religious 
creeds.  But  it  was  silently  understood  among  the 
little  body  of  which  she  had  been  made  a  member 
that  all  diversities  of  belief  were  welded  into  one 
common  and  satisfying  faith  —  the  beneficence  of 
steadfast  humanitarian  diligence.  Here  they  all 
assembled,  so  to  speak,  as  in  a  temple,  of  which 
Mrs.  Romilly  herself  was  the  calm  and  pure  high- 
priestess. 

"  I  see  that  we  are  asked  to  three  dinners  next 
week,"  said  Tremaine  to  his  wife  one  morning  at 
breakfast.  "  Do  you  mean  to  accept  all  the  din 
ners  this  season  ?  " 

"  No,"  she  answered ;  "  I  have  quite  given  up 
all  that." 

He  stared  at  her  in  his  mild  way  for  a  moment. 

"  Do  you  expect  me  to  go  without  you  ?  "  he 
said. 

"  If  you  choose  —  certainly." 

A  note  of  impatience  stirred  his  reply. 

"  It  is  not  good  form.  I  suppose  you  know  that. 
I  wish  to'  accept  at  all  three  places.  I  like  the 
houses,  and  the  people  whom  one  meets  there. 
Am  I  to  be  kept  at  home  because  it  is  your  whim 
to  keep  me  ?  " 


262  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"  It  is  not  my  whim  to  keep  you  at  home,"  she 
answered.  "  But  it  is  my  sincere  desire  to  keep 
myself  at  home." 

He  gave  a  nervous,  annoyed  gesture,  and  began 
to  stir  his  coffee  somewhat  briskly.  His  old,  grace 
ful  languor  had  in  a  great  measure  left  him  of  late ; 
he  was  thinner,  and  at  times  actually  haggard. 
Leah  was  not  at  a  loss  to  account  for  this  change. 
When  they  met  at  breakfast  (which  was  not  often) 
his  hand  would  sometimes  be  tremulous  and  his 
eyes  bloodshot.  She  rarely  saw  him  after  dinner, 
and  frequently  he  would  dine  away  from  home. 
She  had  a  certainty  that  he  seldom  returned  at 
night  before  a  very  late  hour.  She  never  inquired 
of  him  concerning  his  goings  and  comings. 

This  morning,  however,  he  looked  better  than 
usual  —  that  is,  than  on  the  occasions  when  they 
breakfasted  together.  She  plainly  saw  that  she 
had  irritated  him,  and  knew  that  he  would  pres 
ently  make  this  evident. 

She  was  not  mistaken  here.  He  fixed  his  eyes 
upon  her  face  very  soon  after  she  had  spoken,  and 
addressed  her  in  these  words : 

"  I  think  you  must  see  the  absurdity  of  our  pull 
ing  against  each  other  in  this  fashion.  I  can't 
dine  out  unless  I  do  so  with  you,  and  because  you 
have  taken  to  prowling  among  the  highways  and 


TINKLING  CYMBALS.  263 

hedges,  and  permitting  yourself  to  be  fooled  by 
lazy  paupers,  who  no  doubt  chuckle  over  your 
credulous  inexperience,  I  don't  see  that  this  is  any 
reason  why  I  should  be  kept  from  the  natural  and 
proper  enjoyment  consequent  upon  the  position  to 
which  I  was  born." 

This  was  the  first  suggestion  he  had  ever  given 
her  that  he  had  cognizance  of  her  altered  aims. 
She  had  hardly  doubted  that  he  must  have  seen 
them,  and  yet  he  had  never  spoken  regarding 
them.  Her  mind  worked  fleetly  as  she  reflected, 
without  a  pulse  of  effrontery,  upon  his  recent 
speech.  While  he  waited  her  answer  he  expected 
argument  if  not  dissent ;  but  neither  came.  Leah 
simply  said :  "  I  do  not  see  that  I  am  privileged 
to  disagree  with  you.  I  will  accept  the  invita 
tions  in  both  our  names."  .  .  . 

"  You  think  I  did  right,  mamma  ? ",  she  after 
ward  said  to  her  mother. 

"Unquestionably,  my  dear.  He  is  your  hus 
band.  His  demand  is  not  unjust.  I  wish  that  he 
had  always  done  nothing  more  blamable  than  to 
make  it." 

Leah  gave  a  great  sigh.  "These  assemblages 
are  simply  odious  to  me  now,"  she  said.  "  It  is 
not  that  I  have  ceased  to  like  the  glow  and  grace 
of  them.  But  all  the  people  think  and  talk  such 


264  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

trivialities !  They  live  so  utterly  out  of  their  time ! 
It  makes  me  think  of  the  palace  of  the  Sleeping 
Beauty,  with  the  inmates  wakened  after  a  hundred 
years  of  slumber.  The  world  has  gone  rolling  on, 
and  they  have  known  nothing  about  it."  .  .  .  She 
dropped  her  voice  almost  to  a  whisper,  and  spoke 
as  though  some  harsh  disaster  were  threatening 
her.  "  I  see  my  proper  course,  perfectly,  mamma. 
I  have  married  that  man,  I  dwell  under  the  same 
roof  with  him.  I  must  yield  my  preferences  to 
his  so  long  as  mine  are  unconventional,  militant 
against  those  ideas  and  forms  to  which  I  knew  him 
wedded  when  I  became  his  wife.  I  put  on  the 
yoke  as  if  it  were  a  necklace  of  jewels,  and  I  must 
wear  it,  though  it  prove  a  collar  of  iron  !  " 

"  Leah,  I  hate  to  hear  you  speak  like  this  !  " 

"  But  you  assent  to  my  theory.  While  he  pre 
serves  the  decencies  I  must  live  with  him.  And 
while  I  live  with  him  I  must  shield  from  outward 
notice  and  comment  the  hollow  falsity  that  our 
marriage  has  grown.  You  will  agree  with  me 
there."  Leah  paused  for  a  brief  space.  "  Law 
rence  Rainsford  would  agree  with  me,  too." 

Mrs.  Romilly  gave  a  visible  start.  "  Why  do 
you  mention  Rainsford?  "  she  quickly  asked. 

A  moment  after  the  question  was  spoken  she 
regretted  it. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  265 

"  Why  ?  "  murmured  Leah.  She  laughed  in  an 
abrupt,  tired  way.  "I  —  I  don't  know,"  she  an 
swered,  avoiding  her  mother's  look.  She  seemed 
to  scan  the  carpet  while  she  went  on :  "I  suppose 
it  is  because  he  is  so  sure  a  judge  between  right 
and  wrong  —  and  so  richly  endowed  with  the  no 
blest  qualities  of  manhood  as  well." 

"If  you  had  only  thought  that  not  so  very  long 
ago  !  "  passed  through  Mrs.  Romilly's  mind.  But 
she  was  far  enough  from  openly  expressing  the 
wish  —  one  that  had  to  do  with  a  profound  and 
unassuaged  regret. 

Leah  went  again  into  gay  circles.  It  occurred 
to  her  that  she  was  very  little  of  a  success,  in  pop 
ular  phrase.  She  tried  not  to  be  bored,  yet  she 
was  secretly  by  no  means  bored.  She  had  still 
enough  youth  left  to  feel  the  buoyancy  of  aimless 
merriment  and  festivity.  Her  laugh  was  blither 
than  she  knew.  It  was  possibly  her  exquisite 
beauty  that  still  made  her  a  favorite,  though  peo 
ple  declared  her  to  be  changed,  and  deplored  the 
change  as  a  consequence  of  her  husband's  reputed 
misdoings.  Her  mental  brilliancy  and  native  wit 
remained  the  same.  She  pleased  in  spite  of  herself. 
The  Marksleys,  and  perhaps  Mrs.  Forbes  as  well, 
had  circulated  the  story  of  her  novel  departure 
from  received  formulas  of  allegiance.  But  she 


266  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

never  aired  her  late  opinions.  This  second  advent 
was  enforced  ;  she  would  not  have  made  it  but  for 
her  husband's  desire.  And  yet  she  made  it  with  a 
commendable  good  sense.  Tremaine  was  covertly 
pleased ;  he  saw  her  shine,  and  in  a  manner  reign. 
It  tickled  his  egotism  to  find  her  still  admired  and 
courted. 

But  her  devotion  to  the  new  career  continued 
absolute.  She  attended  few  large  entertainments 
excepting  afternoon  receptions,  and  never  per 
mitted  these  or  any  similar  festivity  to  interfere 
with  the  fulfilment  of  her  gracious  offices.  It  is 
possible  that  her  condemnation  of  all  worldliness 
now  seemed  to  her  unduly  sweeping;  her  con 
verted  state  had  lacked  the  needful  equilibrium, 
and  had  presently  righted  itself;  she  had  swung 
from  one  extreme  to  another,  and  recognized  this 
fact ;  society  did  not  strike  her  as  quite  so  hollow, 
after  all,  as  she  had  pronounced  it,  nor  quite  so 
black  as  she  had  painted  it.  She  now  accepted  it 
as  a  requirement,  where  before  she  had  sought  it 
as  a  delicious  diversion.  By  a  good  deal  that  oc 
curred  there  she  was  emphatically  amused.  Law 
rence  Rainsford's  denunciations  would  occasion 
ally  haunt  her  memory,  not  seldom  with  doubts  as 
to  its  full  justice,  and  yet  often  with  complete  en 
dorsement  of  its  asperity. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  267 

Autumn  had  meanwhile  lapsed  into  winter. 
Tremalne  still  hid  his  excesses  from  his  wife, 
though  she  continually  perceived  their  results. 
He  managed  never  to  appear  before  her  in  wine ; 
she  would  have  resented  such  an  indignity  by  a 
prompt  withdrawal  from  the  room  if  he  had  ever 
inflicted  it ;  she  had  prepared  herself  just  how  to 
act  in  the  event  of  its  occurrence. 

She  had  formed  no  intimacy  with  any  of  his 
relations,  though  visits  of  ceremony  were  punc 
tiliously  exchanged  between  herself  and  not  a  few 
of  his  kinswomen.  She  did  not  at  all  object  to 
this  turn  of  affairs.  It  would  have  stung  her 
pride  if  these  aunts  and  cousins  had  all  failed  to 
pay  her  the  simple  courtesy  of  admitting  the  place 
that  she  held  and  the  name  that  she  bore.  As  for 
Tremaine's  mother,  that  lady  had  thus  far  shrouded 
herself  in  a  silence  and  seclusion  which  Leah  felt 
convinced  would  indefinitely  continue.  It  was 
widely  known  that  she  and  her  mother-in-law  were 
"  not  on  terms."  But  neither  her  husband  nor  any 
of  his  clan  had  made  the  least  reference  to  this 
estrangement  since  her  marriage.  Indeed,  it  could 
hardly  be  called  by  that  name ;  Leah  had  never 
seen  the  elder  Mrs.  Tremaine,  and  had  no  desire 
to  see  her.  Not  that  Elizabeth  Romilly's  daughter 
cherished  any  anger.  This  had  long  ago  become 


268  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

indifference ;  she  had  fallen,  at  last,  into  the  habit 
of  regarding  Mrs.  Tremaine's  behavior  rather  with 
pity  than  resentment.  And  she  had  taken  it  for 
granted  that  her  husband's  condemnation  of  the 
words  then  used,  and  the  attitude  then  assumed, 
remained  quite  unaltered. 

But  one  day  her  eyes  were  opened  to  a  wholly 
different  perception  of  this  latter  point.  She  dis 
covered  that  Tremaine  was  in  sympathy  with  his 
mother's  extraordinary  conduct.  The  discovery 
was  a  sharp  blow. 

He  entered  her  room  at  about  four  o'clock,  one 
afternoon.  She  had  passed  the  morning  in  a  hos 
pital  with  her  mother,  and  had  soothed  the  last 
hours  of  a  woman  dying  with  great  physical 
agony,  and  half-crazed  by  the  conviction  that  she 
would  soon  pass  among  eternal  torments.  Leah's 
nerves  had  been  severely  shaken,  but  a  slight 
sleep  had  relieved  her  distress;  she  rose  from  a 
lounge  as  Tremaine's  knock  sounded  at  her  door, 
and  afterward  received  him  with  excellent  com 
posure.  He  had  ostensibly  sought  her  for  the 
purpose  of  discussing  an  over-charge  made  with 
respect  to  certain  household  repairs  during  the 
previous  summer;  but  he  soon  deserted  this 
topic,  and  almost  before  Leah  knew  it,  he  had 
said: 


TINKLIXG   CYMBALS.  269 

"By  the  way,  did  it  ever  strike  you  that  my 
mother  and  you  ought  to  be  friends  ?  " 

"Of  course  it  would  have  been  better,"  she 
answered,  somewhat  confusedly. 

"  Better?  It  would  have  been  the  proper  thing." 
He  gave  a  slight  shrug  of  the  shoulders,  a  moment 
afterward,  and  turned  away  from  the  window 
through  which  he  had  been  gazing  down  into  the 
adjacent  street.  "  However,"  he  went  on,  with  a 
blunt  brevity  that  of  late  had  got  saliently  into 
his  manner,  "  I  'm  afraid  you  don't  care  about  the 
proper  thing  any  more." 

Leah  ignored  this  thrust ;  she  felt  that  she 
could  afford  to  do  so ;  it  was  such  a  mere  pin 
prick.  She  was  silent  for  a  little  while,  and  then 
she  said,  measuring  each  word :  "  Why  have  you 
spoken  of  your  mother  ?  " 

"  Why  ?  "  he  repeated,  starting  irritably.  "  Be 
cause,  as  you  very  well  know,  family  quarrels  are 
in  shocking  taste." 

"  There  has  been  no  quarrel." 

He  laughed  harshly.  "  I  don't  know  what  you 
call  it," 

"Then  I  can  tell  you  very  easily,"  Leah  replied. 
"  I  call  it  a  one-sided  attack,  in  which  blows  were 
given  but  not  returned.  They  were  warded  off,  if 
you  please,  in  self-defence,  but  nothing  more.  .  .  .1 


270  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

ain  not  prepared  to  hear  that  you  approve  your 
mother's  course.  I  shall  be  terribly  sorry,  how 
ever,  to  learn  that  you  do." 

He  stood  watching  her  for  a  moment,  with  his 
changed  eyes,  that  had  got  a  reddened,  fatigued 
look  about  the  lids  and  a  curve  of  darkness  below, 
toward  either  cheek.  "  Oh,  pshaw  !  "  he  suddenly 
said,  in  a  kind  of  mutter,  and  with  another  move 
ment  of  the  shoulders  while  walking  to  the  door ; 
"  there 's  no  use  of  hoping  for  common-sense  from 
you  nowadays.  I  give  you  up  in  despair." 

Leah  wondered,  now  and  then  during  the  next 
fortnight,  what  motive  might  have  lain  behind 
those  allusions  to  her  mother-in-law.  But  at 
length  she  had  ample  cause  for  understanding. 
Her  luncheon-hour  was  usually  one  o'clock;  when 
at  home,  she  would  descend  by  this  time  into  the 
dining-room,  and  eat  a  cold  morsel  and  drink  a 
cup  of  tea.  Her  husband  was  never  present 
at  this  meal.  But  one  day  she  was  almost 
startled  to  find  him  standing  before  the  fire-place 
in  the  dining-room,  as  she  entered  that  apart 
ment. 

"Do  you  want  luncheon?"  she  said,  with  an 
amazed  little  laugh,  and  a  glance  at  the  rather 
meagre  repast  spread  upon  the  table.  "If  so,  I 
will  order  something  hot  to  be  cooked.  I  would 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  271 

have  had  it  prepared  beforehand  if  I  had  known 
you  would  be  at  home." 

"  Thanks ;  I  had  a  bite  at  the  club,"  Tremaine 
answered.  His  face  was  averted  from  Leah's ;  he 
appeared  to  be  looking  straight  at  the  ruddy  tur 
moil  of  the  brisk  wood-fire. 

"I  came  at  this  hour  for  a  special  reason,"  he 
went  on,  breaking  an  interval  of  silence.  "  It 
relates  to  my  mother." 

"Your  mother?"  Leah  repeated,  in  quick  inter 
rogation. 

"Yes.  She  is  coming  to  see  you."  As  Tre 
maine  spoke  he  slowly  turned  and  faced  his  wife. 
"  She  thinks  it  best." 

"  Oh,  very  well,"  said  Leah,  in  dubious  under 
tone. 

"She  was  to  be  here  a  little  after  one."  He 
took  out  his  watch  and  glanced  at  it.  "  She  is 
due  now.  And  I  may  as  well  tell  you,  Leah,  that 
mother  considers  she  is  making  a  decided  con 
cession  by  coming." 

"A  concession?" 

"  Yes.  I  dare  say  she  will  be  a  little  stiff,  too. 
She  thinks,  you  know,  that  the  first  advances 
should  have  come  from  you." 

"From  me,  Tracy?"  said  Leah,  who  had  turned 
pale,  and  who  now  rose  from  her  chair. 


272  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

He  slightly  frowned,  and  his  tones  were  peev 
ishly  raised,  as  he  answered :  "  There  is  no  use  of 
echoing  every  word  I  say,  like  that !  Yes,  from 
you!" 

"  From  me  ? "  persisted  Leah,  touching  her 
bosom  with  one  hand.  "From  the  daughter  of 
the  lady  whom  she  insulted?" 

Just  then  a  bell-peal  sounded  in  the  outer  hall. 
"  There  she  is,  now ! "  exclaimed  Tremaine.  "  I 
do  hope  you  intend  to  behave  properly." 

Leah  looked  with  fixity  into  her  husband's  face. 
"I  shall  make  no  concessions,"  she  said.  "I  am 
prepared  to  receive  them." 

"Bah !  what  an  absurdity !  Mother  is  a  woman 
of  sixty.  Besides,  she  is — though  you  may  not 
grant  it  —  a  person  of  marked  importance."  (It 
is  not  easy  to  describe  the  peculiar  accent  with 
which  he  gave  this  last  sentence ;  they  who  best 
knew  the  Tremaines  knew  the  intonation  well 
when  they  heard  it,  and  they  never  heard  it 
except  when  a  Tremaine  referred  to  himself  or 
others  of  his  blood,  in  the  sense  of  caste  and 
distinction.)  "  You  certainly  don't  suppose  that 
she  is  coming  to  you  with  anything  so  nonsensical 
as  an  apology." 

"  I  do,"  said  Leah,  with  great  firmness.  "  I 
shall  receive  her  on  no  other  terms." 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  273 

He  bit  his  lips ;  his  eyes  had  begun  to  glitter. 

"Remember  that  you  are  in  your  own  house. 
On  that  account,  if  no  other,  preserve  some  re 
spect  for  yourself." 

"I  wish  always  to  preserve  a  great  deal  of 
respect  for  my  mother,"  she  answered. 

"Your  mother  and  you  are  two  different  peo 
ple." 

"  In  a  matter  of  this  sort  we  are  one." 

"  Her  quarrels  belong  to  herself." 

"They  belong  to  me  as  well  —  whenever  she 
has  been  wronged." 

At  this  moment  the  draperies  overhanging  a 
doorway  which  communicated  with  the  near 
drawing-room  were  parted,  and  a  servant  ap 
peared,  bearing  Mrs.  Tremaine's  card.  Tremaine 
himself  took  it,  at  once  dismissing  the  servant. 

"  She  is  here,"  he  said,  speaking  with  low  speed 
to  Leah.  "Do  I  understand  rightly  that  you 
refuse  to  see  her?" 

"Oh,  by  no  means."  Leah  advanced  toward 
another  curtained  doorway  as  she  spoke.  "Her 
offence  was  a  serious  one,  but  I  shall  not  consider 
it  beyond  pardon." 

He  went  close  up  to  her  side.  "  Pardon  !  "  he 
sneered.  "  If  you  have  any  such  idiotic  expecta 
tion,  you  will  be  finely  disappointed !  " 


274  TINKLING  CYMBALS. 

"Did  your  mother  send  her  card  to  me  or  to 
you  ?  "  she  quietly  asked. 

"  To  you  —  of  course." 

"  Then,  of  course,  I  will  see  her." 

He  scanned  her  pale  face  with  a  morose  acute- 
ness.  "  A  moment  ago  you  said  that  you  would 
not  receive  her." 

Leah  gravely  nodded.  "I  did.  But  to  see  and 
to  receive  are  not,  in  this  case,  the  same." 

"I  fail  to  discover  any  difference  between 
them." 

"You  shall  be  afforded  the  opportunity,  per 
haps,  if  you  choose  to  witness  our  meeting." 

He  drew  a  deep  breath.  "Don't  make  me 
curse  the  hour  that  I  ever  married  you ! "  he  mut 
tered,  in  his  throat. 

"  Shall  you  enter  with  me  ?  "  asked  Leah. 

He  did  not  reply.  He  was  observing  her  with 
a  look  of  suppressed  exasperation.  She  brushed 
aside  one  of  the  curtains,  and  passed  into  the 
drawing-room. 

Mrs.  Tremaine  rose  from  a  chair  as  Leah  ap 
proached.  The  latter,  even  if  she  had  received 
no  premonition  of  who  it  was,  would  almost  have 
recognized  the  high,  arched  nose,  the  narrow  brow, 
the  white  back-rolled  hair  and  the  dim,  cold  eyes, 
from  her  mother's  past  description,  added  to  the 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  275 

fact  of  a  certain  resemblance  which  the  lady  bore 
to  her  finer-featured  son. 

Leah  advanced  toward  Mrs.  Tremaine  with  a 
gliding  step  and  an  entirely  self-possessed  mien. 
She  reached  a  chair  not  far  from  that  which  her 
visitor  had  just  vacated,  paused  beside  it,  and 
rested  both  hands  upon  its  back.  She  had  no  de 
sire  not  to  be  abrupt,  but  she  wished  not  to  be 
unmannerly.  She  at  once  spoke,  in  a  voice  so 
modulated  that  it  seemed  sweet  as  well. 

*'  I  am  your  son's  wife,"  she  said. 

Mrs.  Tremaine  gave  a  little  fluttered  sigh. 

"  I  know  you  by  sight,  my  dear,"  she  replied. 
"  I  saw  you  at  Newport  .  .  .  but  you  did  not  see 
me  ...  I  was  in  my  own  apartment,  nearly 
always,  when  you  passed  with  Tracy  —  or  else  I 
saw  you  from  my  carriage-window  —  I  am  such  an 
invalid  —  I  am  constantly  forced  to  hide  myself 
from  the  air  —  from  the  open  sunshine,  you  know. 
But  I  remember  you  —  I  should  have  known 
you  immediately  if  we  had  met  elsewhere." 

She  was  silent  for  a  little  while ;  her  thin  lips 
trembled,  once  or  twice,  as  if  from  indecision  what 
to  say  next.  Suddenly  she  put  forth  both  her 
black-gloved  hands,  which  looked  as  if  their  en 
casing  kid  had  never  left  them  since  they  had 
waved  themselves  before  her  agitated  face  during 


276  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

her  strange  talk  with  Mrs.  Romilly  more  than  two 
years  ago,  aiid  took  several  rapid  steps  toward 
Leah. 

"  I  hope  you  will  think  no  more  of  the  past,  my 
dear !  "  she  said.  "  /  don't  want  to  think  of  it. 
I  —  I  want  to  be  friends  with  my  daughter-in- 
law!" 

Leah  gazed  for  a  second  at  the  extended  hands, 
but  she  did  not  extend  her  own.  Her  counte 
nance  v.ras  not  stern,  yet  it  was  exceedingly  seri 
ous. 

"  Your  daughter-in-law  wishes  also  to  be  friends 
with  you,"  she  said.  "  If  you  place  it  within  her 
power  to  be  friends  with  you,  Mrs.  Tremaine,  she 
will  thank  you  very  much." 

The  reply  was  at  first  a  look  of  wonderment; 
there  was  not  a  trace  of  hauteur  in  it,  as  the  lady 
put  her  hands  still  farther  forward. 

"  I  do  place  it  within  your  power,  my  dear 
child,"  she  exclaimed,  as  though  eager  to  correct 
some  misapprehension. 

Leah  receded,  then,  shaking  her  head.  "  Par 
don  me,"  she  objected.  "  You  have  not  done  so 

yet." 

Mrs.  Tremaine's  hands  dropped  at  her  sides. 
"Why,  what  do  mean?"  she  asked,  in  her  light, 
cool,  thin  voice. 


TINKLING  CYMBALS.  277 

"Merely  this,"  said  Leah,  with  a  sadness  and 
tenderness  commingled.  "At  Newport,  a  little 
while  after  my  engagement  to  your  son  was  made 
public,  you  addressed  language  to  my  dear  mother 
which  I  must  believe,  unless  you  tell  me  other 
wise,  that  you  now  regret.  They  were  cruel 
words,  Mrs.  Tremaine,  and  quite  unprovoked. 
But  they  will  be  overlooked  and  forgotten  if  you 
are  willing  to  meet  my  mother  and  declare  to  her 
that  you  do  regret  them.  I  think  that  I  speak 
from  a  full  knowledge  of  her  large  and  generous 
nature  when  I  tell  you  she  will  require  no  elabo 
rate  or  formal  apology,  but  merely  a  simple  ex 
pression  of  the  sorrow  it  has  cost  you  for  having 
dealt  a  deep  sorrow  to  her." 

Leah  had  scarcely  ended  her  final  sentence  be 
fore  she  saw  something  of  the  result  which  was  to 
follow  this  appeal.  Mrs.  Tremaine  stared  at  her 
with  back-thrown  head  now,  and  a  kind  of  electri 
fied  rigidity  about  the  slim,  dark-clad  figure.  The 
very  intensity  of  her  scorn  carried  with  it  a  maj 
esty.  Supreme  prejudices,  however  repellent  to 
contemplate,  are  always  supreme  facts.  Mighty 
bigotry  may  shock  us  by  its  perversity,  but  we 
cannot  effectually  deny  its  might.  That  remains 
in  bulky,  granitic  assertion. 

Between  the  brains,  the  motives,  the  creeds,  the 


278  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

temperaments  of  these  two  women,  as  they  now 
regarded  each  other,  there  lay  a  distance  that 
might  almost  be  called  interplanetary.  Or,  at 
least,  their  meeting  was  like  the  dead  past  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  living  present.  A  whole  his 
tory  of  human  progression  stretched  between  their 
opposing  minds.  On  both  sides  the  antagonism 
was  sincere  enough.  The  stanchness  of  their 
mutual  contempt  made  it  doubly  important.  One 
clung  to  her  belief  in  the  positive  sanctity  of 
birth  and  name  quite  as  tenaciously  as  the  other 
clung  to  a  belief  in  the  emptiness  of  both.  It  is 
possible  that  they  recognized  one  another  as  natu 
ral  foes  during  the  brief  but  pregnant  pause  that 
now  ensued.  In  the  clear  brown  eyes  of  one 
seemed  to  burn  the  strong,  active  vitality  of  to 
day  ;  in  'the  faded  and  frosty  gaze  of  the  other 
lay  the  ember-like  dimness  of  a  thousand  yester 
days. 

"  You  think  that  I  will  degrade  myself  by 
apologizing  to  her?"  at  length  sounded  Mrs.  Tre- 
maine's  gasping  whisper.  "  You  dare  to  think 
so?" 

Leah's  wrath  had  leaped  up  into  her  face.  And 
she  meant  to  give  that  wrath  full  freedom,  now. 
She  felt  that  she  had  no  longer  the  least  cause  for 
restraint  —  no,  nor  the  least  excuse  for  it.  It 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  279 

flashed  through  her  that  here  was  one  of  the  rare 
cases  when  to  be  angry  is  to  be  right.  She  was  de 
fending  what  she  loved.  This  woman  had  tempted 
punishment.  She  should  be  taught  a  lesson.  Yes, 
one  that  till  her  dying  hour  she  should  never  for 
get. 


XIII. 

"DERHAPS  Leah  remained  silent  five  or  six 
good  seconds.  During  this  interval  she  was 
slowly  measuring  the  form  of  her  companion. 
She  began  at  the  dark  rim  of  Mrs.  Tremaine's 
dress,  and  let  her  eyes  lift  themselves  with  a  de 
liberate  scrutiny  up  along  the  fragile  stature  till 
they  met  the  narrow  visage.  Then  she  spoke. 

"  I  shall  not  answer  either  of  your  questions, 
madam.  Their  impertinence  is  too  pitiable.  But 
perhaps  you  would  care  to  know,  since  you  have 
presumed  to  suggest  that  you  are  my  mother's 
superior,  how  far  below  her  I  rank  you.  She  is 
the  sort  of  woman  who  leaves  the  world  better 
for  having  lived  in  it ;  you  are  the  sort  of  woman 
who  tries  to  leave  it  worse.  She  has  a  great  intel 
lect  and  a  great  heart ;  you  have  a  little  intellect, 
and  no  heart  at  all.  She  loves  her  kind,  and  has 
dedicated  her  life  to  help  the  sick,  the  maimed, 
the  poor,  the  unfortunate ;  you  despise  your  kind, 
and  never  give  an  hour  of  thought  to  them,  against 
the  distinct  command  of  that  Christ  whom  you 
280 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  281 

have  the  insolence  to  worship  every  Sunday  of 
your  selfish,  unprofitable  life.  When  my  mother 
dies  there  will  be  hundreds  who  will  weep  for 
her;  when  you  die  you  will  be  taken  to  your 
grave  without  a  tear.  Who  are  you,  pray,  that 
you  should  disparage  such  a  grand  and  stainless 
life  as  hers?  An  aristocrat?  Why,  even  that 
flimsy  claim  will  not  serve  you.  You  come  of  a 
respectable  family  —  nothing  more.  You  have  no 
long  descent,  no  line  of  ancestry,  no  illustrious 
name.  In  Europe  your  absurd  pretension  would 
be  laughed  at,  as  you  well  know.  .  .  .  Come,  then, 
what  is  your  self-valuation  based  upon?  Is  it 
education?  Why,  my  dear  madam,  you  cannot 
even  spell  your  own  language.  A  note  of  yours 
once  fell  into  my  hands.  It  was  carelessly  given 
me  by  your  son,  to  whom  you  had  written  con 
cerning  a  certain  scandal  at  Newport,  where  you 
remained  later  in  the  autumn  than  usual  —  I  think 
because  of  his  abominated  wedding.  The  brief 
paragraph  which  I  read  barely  missed  being  illiter 
ate.  But  my  mother  can  not  only  spell  English 
correctly ;  four  other  languages  are  as  familiar  to 
her  as  her  own.  Few  of  the  world's  immortal 
writers  and  thinkers  have  escaped  her  knowledge ; 
she  is  as  intimate  with  them  as  you  are  doubtless 
ignorant  of  them.  .  .  .  Whence,  then,  comes  your 


282  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

audacious  reason,  not  only  to  scorn  a  being  so  im 
measurably  above  you,  but  to  mingle  that  scorn 
with  personal  abuse?  What  last  excuse  remains 
to  you?  —  or  indeed,  what  last  miserable  make 
shift  of  excuse  ?  Do  you  excel  her  in  her  manners  ? 
Why,  there  is  hardly  an  unlettered  pauper  among 
all  those  whom  her  lovely  charities  daily  befriend, 
who  would  not  shame  to  attack  a  fellow-creature 
with  the  coarsely  arrogant  sentiments  which  you 
then  delivered.  That  my  mother  should  even 
be  willing  to  accept  an  apology  from  you  is  but 
evidence  of  her  surprising  generosity.  That  you, 
after  so  atrocious  a  transgression,  should  defend 
your  behavior,  merely  stamps  you  as  incapable  to 
appreciate  a  spirit  that  you  are  miserably  far  from 
resembling ! " 

All  rebukes,  however  just,  may  be  spoiled  in 
their  effect  from  an  overplus  of  passion.  But 
Leah,  angry  as  she  was,  kept  the  flame  of  her  ire 
from  out-soaring  the  bounds  of  dignity.  Her  im 
petuosity  was  leavened  by  moderation ;  her  sen 
tences  came  fleet  and  warm,  yet  each  one  was 
tellingly  trenchant.  She  hinted,  in  voice,  in  mien, 
in  expression,  of  a  reproachful  power  yet  held  in 
reserve. 

Once  or  twice,  during  her  speech,  Mrs.  Tre- 
maine  visibly  shivered ;  once  or  twice  she  lifted 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  283 

her  hands  imprecatingly ;  once  or  twice  she  uttered 
a  low,  horrified  moan.  But  at  length,  as  Leah 
ended,  she  cried  out  with  querulous  sharpness : 

"Why  did  I  ever  enter  this  house?  I  might 
have  known  what  to  expect ! " 

"  Surely  you  did  know,"  sped  Leah.  "  Then 
why  did  you  come  ?  " 

Mrs.  Tremaine  strove  to  moisten  her  thin, 
blanched  lips.  She  was  very  agitated ;  she  even 
appeared  like  a  person  in  straits  for  breath. 

"  You  are  as  brazen  as  your  mother ! "  she  ex 
claimed  with  husky  difficulty.  "  No,  you  are  even 
worse  than  she  is  !  " 

"  Ah !  you  don't  know  what  a  compliment  you 
are  paying  me !  "  said  Leah,  with  freezing  satire. 

"I  —  I  shall  never  forget  this  hour  !  " 

"  It  was  my  intention  to  fix  it  in  your  memory." 

"I  —  I  don't  know  how  to  deal  with  such  people 
as  you  are  !  I  —  I  have  been  educated  to  —  to  al 
ways  avoid  you ! " 

"  Pardon  me.  You  have  not  been  educated  at 
all.  I  made  that  very  clear  a  moment  ago." 

"You — you  should  at  least  have  the  decency 
to  remember  that  I  am  the  mother  of  your  hus 
band." 

"  That  is  just  the  point.  You  have  had  the  in 
decency  to  ignore  it." 


284  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"  Of  course  you  excel  me  in  —  in  brains  !  But 
that  is  all  —  all!" 

"  By  no  means.     You  forget  breeding." 

Mrs.  Tremaine  clenched  her  gloved  hands  to 
gether,  at  this  point,  looking  the  picture  of  impo 
tent  distress.  Her  suffering  was  quite  real  —  even 
more  real  than  it  had  been  during  her  encounter 
with  Mrs.  Romilly.  She  esteemed  herself  the  vic 
tim  of  a  most  frightful  outrage. 

"  Breeding !  "  she  repeated,  with  the  disdain  of 
a  weak  thing  that  will  sting  till  its  weakness  has 
been  wholly  crushed.  And  then  she  gave  a  little 
dry,  sour,  feeble  laugh.  "As  if  an  adventuress 
like  you  could  teach  me  that ! " 

"  No  one  could  teach  it  to  you,"  said  Leah,  feel 
ing  an  actual  pang  of  compassion  as  she  watched 
the  frail,  perturbed  shape  from  which  this  last 
malicious  protest  had  burst.  "  You  are  beyond  all 
power  of  learning  it !  " 

She  turned,  and  was  about  to  leave  the  drawing- 
room.  Contempt  had  prevailed  against  wrath. 
A  weary  unconcern  possessed  her.  It  passed 
through  her  mind  —  "How  much  wiser  mamma 
was  to  disdain  it  all !  I  was  mistaken ;  to  be  angry 
is  always  to  be  wrong." 

Suddenly  Leah's  eyes  fell  upon  her  husband. 
He  was  advancing  from  the  farther  room.  Some- 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  285 

thing  in  his  white,  twitched  face  made  her  instantly 
indignant  again.  Then,  as  he  plainly  scowled  at 
her  while  passing  her,  she  felt  her  mood  regain  all 
its  former  fire. 

He  went  straight  to  his  mother,  and  put  one  arm 
about  the  lady's  waist.  Mrs.  Tremaine  had  seen 
him  some  seconds  ago.  She  now  clung  to  him,  and 
wailed  with  hysterical  violence  : 

"Oh,  Tracy  —  my  son  —  I  have  been  so  terribly 
treated  —  did  you  hear  it?  —  this  is  what  has  re 
sulted  from  my  coming  here  —  take  me  at  once  to 
my  carriage,  Tracy  —  I  shall  be  ill  for  weeks  after 
this." 

"  Remain,  if  you  choose,  mother,"  he  said. 

"  I  forbid  her  remaining,"  said  Leah. 

44  You  hear !  "  cried  Mrs.  Tremaine  putting  one 
arm  within  her  son's,  and  speaking  with  the  tri 
umphantly  childish  accent  that  conscious  defeat 
will  employ  when  it  has  abruptly  found  an  ally. 
"  She  forbids  me  to  remain  !  I  —  I  don't  wish  to 
remain.  I  —  I  was  very  wrong  to  come.  But 
still,  my  son,  you  hear  !  She  forbids  me  !  " 

Tremaine  looked  at  his  wife.  He  spoke  to  her 
as  we  address  a  rebellious  servant. 

"  I  believe  I  am  master  in  my  own  house,"  he 
said. 

44  Certainly,"  Leah  answered.  44  And  I  am  also 
mistress  here." 


286  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"  Come,  Tracy  —  come,"  said  his  mother,  pulling 
at  the  arm  she  had  grasped.  "I  —  I  have  made  a 
fearful  error.  I  —  I  am  justly  punished." 

"  That  is  perfectly  true,"  said  Leah,  as  mother 
and  son  gained  the  threshold  of  the  doorway  which 
gave  upon  the  outer  hall. 

Tremaine  now  turned  and  once  more  looked  at 
his  wife. 

"  You  have  behaved  like  a  tigress,"  he  said  in 
an  undertone. 

"  Then  I  have  only  played  the  part,"  she  an 
swered,  "  which  my  sweet  and  noble  mother  was 
once  too  human  to  play.  Even  a  tigress  will  al 
ways  defend  her  young.  .  .  ." 

She  felt  wretchedly  tired  and  sickened  after  they 
had  gone.  Repeatedly  she  asked  herself  what  view 
her  mother  would  take  of  her  conduct,  and  at  last 
she  firmly  concluded  to  tell  her  mother  nothing  of 
the  whole  deplored  occurrence.  She  thought  with 
portentous  concern  of  her  husband's  future  action. 
For  several  hours  she  paced  the  floor  of  her  cham 
ber,  and  strove  to  set  a  line  of  conduct  which  should 
be  followed  with  skill  and  tact.  But  incessantly 
there  rose  before  her  mind  the  probability  of  his 
unqualified  blame.  How  could  she  endure  that? 
Would  she  merit  either  his  open  arraignment  or 
his  covert  innuendo  ?  When  they  met  at  dinner 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  287 

how  should  she  treat  him  ?  It  was  like  surveying 
the  region  of  a  masked  battery,  and  wondering 
from  what  special  quarter  the  first  dogged  bullet 
would  dart. 

But  Tremaine  did  not  appear  at  dinner.  Leah 
ate  the  meal  alone,  or  rather  almost  failed  to  eat 
it.  She  retired  at  a  comparatively  early  hour,  but 
could  not  sleep.  Her  memory  naturally  drifted 
toward  that  hateful  event  which  had  succeeded 
their  last  quarrel  at  Newport.  She  knew  that  any 
plea,  however  paltry,  would  serve  him  now  for 
drinking  immoderately.  A  hundred  recent  signs 
in  him  told  her  that  his  vice  had  strengthened. 

"  If  the  least  vestige  of  love  remained,"  she 
mused,  "  it  would  all  be  so  different !  I  could 
pardon  so  much !  As  it  is,  I  have  to  reflect  just 
what  it  will  be  proper  to  pardon,  and  just  what 
will  mark  the  boundary  line  of  all  possible  indul 
gence." 

Waiting  in  her  bed  for  some  sound  below  that 
would  apprise  her  of  his  return,  Leah  questioned 
her  own  thoughts  respecting  her  reason  for  keep 
ing  this  whole  late  affair  from  her  mother.  Was 
it  not  as  much  because  of  Lawrence  Rainsford  as 
it  was  through  regard  for  the  loved  one's  mental 
peace  ?  True,  Rainsford  knew  of  her  dreary  mat 
rimonial  mistake.  But  why  let  him  know  these 


288  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

final  bitter  facts?  In  some  unguarded  moment 
her  mother  might  tell  him  all ;  they  were  such  con 
fidential  friends.  No;  it  was  enough  that  Rains- 
ford  should  understand  the  complete  failure  of  her 
marriage.  Let  pride  guard  from  him  any  further 
humiliating  details. 

But  Tremaine  did  not  return  that  night.  When 
Leah  saw  her  mother  on  the  succeeding  day,  he 
had  not  returned.  Still,  she  kept  entirely  silent 
regarding  all  that  had  passed.  Another  night 
went  by,  and  yet  he  gave  no  sign.  But  on  the 
following  morning  a  written  order  to  pack  certain 
articles  of  apparel  and  leave  them  at  a  well-known 
hotel,  was  brought  her  by  the  man-servant  who  had 
received  it. 

"  This  was  sent  to  you,  Thomas  ?  "  she  said,  in 
cool,  matter-of-fact  tones,  after  she  had  read  the 
message. 

"  Yes,  Mrs.  Tremaine,"  was  the  man's  reply. 

Leah  raised  her  brows,  and  looked  with  chill 
composure  at  the  speaker. 

"  Well  ?  Why  do  you  bring  it  to  me  f  If  Mr. 
Tremaine  gives  this  order  you  have  nothing  to  do 
but  carry  it  out." 

At  the  same  time  she  was  secretly  relieved  to 
learn  the  intended  course  of  her  husband.  He 
chose  not  to  return  home.  He  had  decided  on  a 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  289 

plan  of  temporary  absence  from  the  household. 
He  had  taken  up  his  abode  at  a  hotel.  But  this 
precipitate  change  could  not  continue  long.  They 
must  soon  meet,  if  for  nothing  else  than  the  ar 
rangement  of  a  permanent  separation. 

Still,  Leah  said  nothing  to  her  mother.  When 
two  more  days  had  elapsed  she  began  to  feel  not 
only  the  biting  discomfort  of  suspense,  but  the 
mortification  of  confronting  her  servants,  and  of 
fancying  that  she  read  either  sympathy  or  curios 
ity  in  every  new  shade  of  expression  that  crossed 
their  disciplined  countenances. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day  she  deter 
mined  to  seek  her  mother  and  declare  just  how 
matters  stood.  With  this  intent  she  left  the  house 
at  about  three  o'clock.  The  walk  was  not  a  long 
one;  there  had  been  a  snowfall  on  the  previous 
day,  and  as  Leah  passed  along  Madison  Avenue, 
breathing  the  brisk  wintry  air,  an  occasional 
merry,  jingling  sleigh  sped  by  her.  The  pave 
ments  had  little  flecks  of  snow  upon  them ;  the 
sky,  seen  only  in  those  niggard  strips  which  the 
close-built  city  affords,  was  of  a  lucent  yet  milky 
azure.  But  Leah's  mood  was  not  in  accord  with 
the  bracing  weather.  The  blithe  sleigh-bells  found 
no  echo  in  her  dulled  spirits.  She  was  thinking, 
as  she  moved  onward,  of  the  public  exposure  that 


290  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

might  be  waiting  her,  with  all  its  consequent  hurts 
and  torments.  Yet  she  would  play  no  part  of  hos 
tile  assertiveness.  If  the  worst  came  —  if  her  hus 
band  were  unwilling  to  live  with  her  longer,  she 
would  accept  his  decision,  but  never  goad  him  into 
any  rash  clinching  of  it.  As  far  as  she  knew,  or 
had  the  right  to  doubt,  he  had  preserved  a  certain 
promise.  That  promise  once  broken,  she  would 
be  justified  in  annulling  their  marriage-relations. 
But  until  then  she  would  be  willing,  even  glad,  to 
remain  his  wife  before  the  eyes  of  the  world. 

Strangely  enough,  fate  itself  seemed  to  answer, 
a  few  moments  afterward,  these  latter  reflections. 
She  had  gained  a  certain  corner  at  which  was  situ 
ated  a  very  handsome  and  imposing  mansion  of 
red  brick,  with  fanciful  and  unique  stone  copings, 
and  a  wide  vestibule,  where  you  saw  doors  of 
brilliant  stained  glass  in  Gothic  design  above  an 
interspace  of  quaintly  tessellated  flooring.  Leah 
had  often  noticed  this  dwelling  before ;  she  knew 
that  it  was  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Fortescue ;  it 
seemed  to  her  a  model  of  all  reposeful  elegance 
and  dignity  in  metropolitan  architecture ;  there 
had  been  a  time,  and  not  very  long  ago,  when  she 
had  envied  the  easy  fortunes  of  its  proprietress. 
Now,  perhaps,  she  would  not  have  given  this  per 
sonage  a  thought  if  it  had  not  been  that  a  glossy 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  291 

coupg,  drawn  by  two  alert  and  stylish  bays,  dashed 
up  to  the  curb  only  a  few  yards  in  front  of  her, 
and  then  suddenly  halted.  The  next  moment  a 
gentleman  alighted  from  the  carriage ;  he  at  once 
assisted  a  lady  to  alight.  Leah  was  meanwhile  ad 
vancing  toward  them  both.  A  great  tingling  thrill 
of  consternation  and  shame  swept  through  her  as 
she  recognized  her  husband  and  Mrs.  Fortescue. 


XIV. 

T  EAH  briefly  hesitated  as  the  truth  rushed 
-^  upon  her ;  she  was  only  a  few  yards  away 
from  the  pair ;  the  recognition  on  either  side  was 
no  less  complete  than  abrupt;  they  both  palpa 
bly  started  as  they  perceived  who  she  was.  While 
passing  onward,  with  steps  that  she  tried  to  make 
as  firm  and  even  as  before,  she  wondered  if  they 
had  observed  the  hot,  red  blood  dye  her  cheeks. 
"  He  has  broken  his  promise,"  she  was  telling  her 
self,  a  little  later,  while  her  heart  beat  wildly,  and 
her  face  burned  like  fire  in  the  chill  afternoon  air. 
"It  was  the  one  contemptible  thing  left  him  to 
do,  and  he  has  done  it.  Now  my  action  is  plain 
to  me." 

She  did  not  go  to  her  mother's  house.  By  a 
different  course  she  retraced  her  steps  homeward. 
Soon  after  the  return  she  wrote  and  dispatched  a 
note  to  her  mother,  mentioning  Mrs.  Tremaine's 
visit  of  three  days  ago,  yet  not  giving  any  of  its 
details,  and  ending  with  an  account  of  what  she 
had  so  recently  witnessed.  "  I  shall  be  busy  for 
292 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  293 

at  least  two  hours,"  the  note  then  ran,  "in  making 
preparations  for  a  permanent  departure.  I  will 
never  sleep  under  the  same  roof  with  him  again. 
Will  you  not  come  for  me  a  little  before  dusk,  if 
you  receive  this  in  time  ?  I  will  wait  for  you  till 
after  dark ;  then,  if  you  are  not  here,  I  will  go  to 
you.  I  am  terribly  in  earnest  now,  as  I  know  you 
will  understand.  .  .  ." 

Dusk  came,  but  it  did  not  bring  Mrs.  Romilly. 
When  dinner  was  announced,  Leah  descended 
from  her  own  apartment  into  the  dining-room. 
She  even  seated  herself  at  the  table,  while  feeling 
that  she  had  neither  wish  nor  will  to  eat  a  morsel. 
But  she  had  both  wish  and  will  to  preserve  ap 
pearances  ;  her  retreat  should  be  a  dignified  one. 
Tremaine's  empty  place  opposite  her  own  ad 
dressed  her  through  its  vacuum,  as  if  with  a  posi 
tive  presence.  A  very  short  while  after  she  had 
seated  herself,  she  heard  a  peal  sound  at  the  outer 
hall-door. 

She  supposed  that  it  might,  most  probably, 
mean  the  arrival  of  her  mother,  and  after  hearing 
the  door  opened  she  rose,  about  to  enter  the  hall. 
But  just  then  a  quick,  approaching  step,  which 
she  more  than  half  recognized,  made  her  pause. 
Almost  immediately  afterward  her  husband  en 
tered  the  room. 


294  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"  Go,"  he  said  to  the  servant,  who  stood  near 
by.  "  Don't  come  back  till  you  are  called." 

The  servant  obeyed  this  peremptory  dismissal. 
If  it  had  not  been  given,  Leah  might  still  have 
remained  ignorant  regarding  the  condition  of  him 
who  gave  it.  But  there  was  no  mistaking  that 
thick,  reckless  utterance ;  and  as  she  looked  more 
closely  into  her  husband's  face,  she  saw  that  its 
unusual  pallor  was  mingled  with  an  unusual 
harshness  —  even  savagery  of  expression.  He 
had  kept  his  eyes  fixedly  upon  her  since  his  en 
trance,  except  during  the  moment  of  pronouncing 
his  recent  command.  A  timid  woman  might  have 
felt  fear;  but  Leah  felt  none.  She  returned  his 
gaze  without  a  tremor  until  he  spoke. 

"  Well,  I  'm  back  again." 

The  roughness  of  his  tones  had  a  dogged  bra 
vado.  They  were  as  unlike  his  wonted  suavity  as 
it  was  possible  to  imagine.  The  change  in  him 
had  scarcely  been  more  radical  on  that  hated  bac 
chanal  night ;  then  he  had  been  incapable ;  now, 
however,  he  looked  very  capable  —  and  in  a 
strongly  sinister  sense. 

"  I  'm  back  again,"  he  repeated,  with  a  high, 
brief  laugh.  "Well,  what  have  you  to  say  to  me?" 

"  Nothing,"  she  replied. 

His  step  was  heavy  and  a  little  unsteady  as  he 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  295 

walked  toward  an  easy-chair  and  dropped  into  it. 
The  heat  of  the  room  had  begun  to  tell  upon  him 
already ;  the  air  outside  had  sharpened  still  more 
with  the  winter  nightfall. 

"Oh,  come,"  he  said,  moving  his  head  from 
right  to  left  against  the  tufted  back  of  the  chair. 
"  I  know  very  well  you  've  got  a  lot  of  talk  pre 
pared  for  me.  I  'd  like  to  get  it  over  as  soon  as 
possible." 

Leah  walked  quietly  to  one  of  the  doors.  She 
had  seen  quite  plainly  by  that  last  sentence  that 
his  mind  was  so  clouded  with  drink  as  to  leave 
scarcely  a  trace  of  his  ordinary  personality. 

"I  told  you  that  I  had  nothing  to  say,"  she 
responded,  and  with  a  direct,  bold  frankness.  She 
knew  that  any  assumption  of  dignity,  of  reproach, 
or  of  regret  would  all  equally  be  lost  upon  his 
blunted  perceptions. 

She  was  on  the  verge  of  quitting  the  room 
when  he  rose  with  precipitation.  "  Stop ! "  he 
exclaimed,  "  You  saw  me  this  afternoon.  What 
do  you  mean  to  do  ?  I  know  you  're  not  going  to 
pass  it  over." 

"  Then  you  know  what  I  am  going  to  do." 

"  I  do  not  know ! "  he  contradicted,  with  a 
frown.  "Tell  me." 

"  I  told  you  before." 


296  TINKLING  CYMBALS. 

"Before?     When?" 

"A  little  time  previous  to  your  giving  me  a 
certain  promise  —  a  promise  which  you  have  since 
broken." 

He  smiled.  The  smile  was  not  precisely  a  leer, 
and  yet  it  resembled  one.  "Oh,  yes,  I  recol 
lect;  you  said  you  would 't  live  with  me  any 
longer." 

"I  said  so.     I  meant  it.     And  I  mean  it  still." 

His  dulled  eyes  each  caught  a  sudden  sparkle. 
If  he  had  been  his  sober  self  he  might  have  tried 
satire,  but  he  would  have  seen  the  absurdity  of 
anger.  As  it  was,  the  mere  animal  rage  that 
drink  so  often  rouses  for  slight  cause  now  broke 
leash,  for  what  seemed  to  him  a  potent,  impelling 
grievance. 

"  You  mean  it,  do  you  ?  "  he  muttered,  his  voice 
sombre  with  threat.  "  Go,  then,  if  you  please ! 
Do  you  think  I  care  whether  you  go  or  stay?  Do 
you  think  I  want  to  live  with  a  woman  who  re 
fuses  to  know  my  own  mother?  And  who  are 
you,  that  you  should  refuse?  When  I  married 
you,  I  made  you  somebody  —  I  took  you  out  of 
the  common  ranks  —  I  gave  you  my  name.  Yes, 
my  name !  You  don't  think  that  was  anything  ! 
Oh,  no;  of  course  you  don't.  What  business 
have  you  with  pride?  You  might  have  some  pride 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  297 

that  I  made  you  a  Tremaine ;  but  you  Ve  no  cause 
for  any  other." 

Leah  looked  full  at  him  now.  She  was  white 
as  death,  and  she  had  curled  her  lip. 

"You  are  right,"  said  she.  "I  have  no  cause 
for  pride  now.  I  had  once,  when  I  thought  that 
I  was  married  to  a  gentleman." 

He  literally  sprang  toward  her,  then.  If  she 
had  not  been  greatly  angered,  she  might  have  felt 
a  timid  throe ;  she  might  have  drawn  away  from 
him.  As  it  was,  she  held  her  ground;  she  did 
not  withdraw  an  inch,  but  met  his  near  eyes, 
bloodshot  and  kindled,  with  her  own  clear  and 
calm  ones. 

"How  dare  you  say  that  I  am  not  a  gentle 
man?"  he  again  muttered.  His  look  swept  her 
figure  from  head  to  foot.  "Ah!  mother  was 
right.  A  man  should  never  marry  beneath  him. 
/married  that  way;  I  see  it  very  plainly  at  last!" 

"It  took  you  some  time  to  make  the  discovery," 
flashed  Leah,  forgetting  how  foolish  she  was  to 
bandy  either  word  or  wit  with  one  whom  drink 
had  pushed  into  insensate  passion.  "  You  did  not 
make  it  until  you  had  disgraced  yourself  in  two 
ways — by  drunkenness  and  by  falsehood!" 

He  caught  one  of  her  arms,  just  above  the 
wrist.  His  clasp  was  so  tense  that  it  pained  her. 


298  TINKLING  CYMBALS. 

He  peered  so  closely  into  her  face  that  she  smelt 
the  wine-taint  in  his  breath. 

"  Let  me  go,"  she  said,  trying  to  recede. 

His  hand  tightened  instead  of  relaxing.  "I 
will  take  no  more  insolence  from  you!"  shot  his 
next  words.  "You've  called  me  nearly  every 
thing  that 's  bad.  I  '11  show  you  that  I  can  still 
be  worse." 

"You  cannot  frighten  me,"  said  Leah,  without  a 
quiver  in  her  voice.  Her  straight  glance  did  not 
quail,  either.  "What  that  is  worse  can  you 
show  me,  except  that  you  are  a  miserable  cow 
ard?" 

He  dropped  her  arm.  As  he  did  so  she  turned 
to  fly  from  him.  They  were  both  quite  near  one 
of  the  draped  doors.  At  this  moment  he  struck 
her.  The  blow  was  given  with  his  clenched  hand. 
It  fell  upon  her  head  just  above  one  temple.  She 
reeled  for  a  moment ;  then,  as  she  was  sinking  to 
the  floor,  dazed  and  stunned,  she  felt  that  she  was 
in  some  one's  arms,  and  that  these  arms  had  kept 
her  still  erect,  though  she  drooped  feebly  against 
a  supporting  form.  Was  it  her  mother's  voice 
that  she  now  heard  ?  It  seemed  so  far  off  ...  it 
seemed  like  a  voice  in  a  dream.  .  .  . 

"  If  you  strike  again,  strike  me  !  " 

What  other  voice  did  she  now  hear?    Was  it 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  299 

her  husband's  ?  .  .  .  But  it  was  so  different  —  so 
changed.  .  .  . 

"  Mrs.  Romilly  —  I  was  mad  —  I  despise  myself 
—  Oh,  my  God !  —  I  did  not  mean  to  do  it  — 
I  ..." 

Leah  heard  no  more,  after  that.  The  blank 
that  followed  seemed  a  very  long  one  when  she 
awoke  from  it.  She  found  herself  in  a  dim  apart 
ment,  whose  details  gradually  resolved  themselves 
into  those  of  her  own  drawing-room.  .  .  .  Her 
mother  was  bending  over  her.  .  .  .  Then  it  all 
suddenly  became  clear. 

"Mamma,"  she  murmured,  "I  —  I  am  to  be 
with  you  to-night  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Leah  ;  yes,  my  darling." 

"  This  — this  is  my  house,  is  n't  it,  mamma  ?  " 

"Yes,  Leah." 

"  Can't  we  go  ?  ...  Can't  we  go  together  ?  " 

"  Yes,  my  child.  The  carriage  that  I  came  in  is 
outside.  I  was  at  the  hospital  till  quite  late ;  I 
ordered  a  carriage  and  came  to  you  as  soon  as  I 
got  your  note.  I  reached  here  —  " 

"  Yes,  I  know.  ...  It  was  you  who  caught  me 
when  he  .  .  .  ' 

"  Yes,  Leah,  it  was  I." 

"  Where  is  he  now  ?  " 

"  He  is  upstairs.    I  told  him  you  were  better,  and 


300  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

he  went  away.  You  have  been  better,  Leah,  though 
you  did  not  know  it.  You  have  been  talking 
foolishly,  but  that  was  nothing.  I  knew  it  was 
merely  hysteria.  ...  I  have  seen  so  much  sick 
ness,  of  so  many  kinds,  that  I  have  grown  quite  a 
doctor,  my  child.  .  .  .  He  is  worse  than  you  —  far 
worse  ;  he  is  half  crazed  by  what  he  did." 

"  But  I  —  I  am  not  to  stay  here,  mamma.  You 
don't  mean  that?" 

"  No,  no,  my  darling.  You  are  to  go  home  with 
me — to  my  home.  The  carriage  is  waiting.  .  .  . 
There  —  see  —  you  are  able  to  stand  very  nicely. 
.  .  .  And  you  can  walk  well,  too.  It  will  only  be 
a  step.  Here,  let  me  put  on  your  bonnet ;  I  had 
it  brought  down ;  I  knew  you  would  presently  be 
better.  .  .  .  That  is  perfect.  .  .  .  Now  hold  fast 
of  my  arm.  We  only  have  to  get  down  the  stoop, 
you  know.  Why,  you  are  almost  as  strong  as  I 
am.  .  .  .  Leah,  don't  stop ;  use  a  little  real  nerve  ; 
you  have  so  much  of  it,  darling.  I  sent  all  the  ser 
vants  away ;  they  think  you  are  still  on  the  sofa ; 
and  he,  as  I  told  you,  is  upstairs.  He  will  not 
know  we  have  gone  until  we  are  actually  away. 
.  .  .  Hold  fast  of  my  arm.  We  are  on  the  stoop 
now,  Leah.  The  carriage  is  just  below.  .  .  .  Why, 
you  are  walking  splendidly.  ...  Be  careful  of 
the  steps.  .  .  .  There,  you  have  got  down  in  ex- 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  301 

cellent  style.  .  .  .  Now,  here  is  the  carriage.  .  .  . 
Raise  your  foot  a  little  —  that  is  the  way  my 
love." 

Leah  sank  back  on  the  cushions  of  the  carriage. 
Presently  she  had  a  sense  of  motion,  and  of  lips 
pressed  against  her  cheek.  Then  a  kind  of  fierce 
strength  came  to  her.  She  put  both  arms  about 
her  mother's  neck.  The  wild  mood,  of  whose  real 
vehemence  she  had  no  memory,  still  lingered  in 
brain  and  nerves. 

"  Oh,  mamma,"  she  cried,  "  how  right  you  were 
long  ago  ?  Tinkling  cymbals.  .  .  .  that  is  all  it 
ever  was  !  .  .  .  Tinkling  cymbals  !  .  .  .  And  I 
thought  it  such  fine,  lovely  music  !  .  .  .  I  could 
not  hear  the  discord  —  I  thought  it  all  so  sweet 
—  I  was  so  wayward,  so  bad,  so  foolish!  .  .  ." 

A  little  later  her  mind  wandered  in  a  way  that 
keenly  alarmed  her  mother,  whose  neck  her  arms 
still  clasped. 

"  Who  put  that  tract  into  your  book,  mamma  ? 
Was  it  Tracy  Tremaine  ?  Let  us  leave  this  house ; 
I  don't  like  that  woman  with  the  pale  face  and 
white  hair.  The  Marksleys  say  that  she 's  his 
mother.  But  I  can't  believe  it.  ...  No,  I  can't 
believe  that  he  would  strike  Lucy  Forbes.  Poor 
Lucy !  She  has  had  a  hard  time  of  it.  She  says 
that  her  head  shows  a  mark  where  her  husband 


302  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

struck  her.  Look,  and  see.  Tracy  Tremaine  did 
not  strike  her.  ...  It  was  her  own  husband.  .  .  . 
Tracy  is  a  gentleman.  .  .  .  The  Tremaine  family, 
you  know,  is  the  oldest  in  the  country.  .  .  They 
date  hundreds  of  years  back,  to  an  old,  thin, 
queer  woman  who  once  insulted  me  —  no,  not  me, 
mamma  —  you  !  I  would  n't  have  minded  if  it  had 
been  I.  But  she  said  such  dreadful  things  of  you. 
She  prayed  for  you,  and  got  a  little  woman  with  a 
little  horrid  dog,  whose  name  was  Mrs.  Dickerson, 
to  set  the  dog  upon  3*011.  .  .  .  Don't  you  recollect 
it  all  ?  "  .  .  .  And  then  Leah  laughed  a  loud,  dis 
traught  laugh.  .  .  . 

She  never  remembered  entering  her  mother's 
apartment.  And  for  many  days  afterward  her 
memory  was  lost  in  the  fiery  whirl  of  fever. 

Her  illness  was  at  no  time  dangerous.  Her  de 
lirium  now  and  then  took  a  woful  form,  but  the 
physician  who  attended  her  constantly  declared 
that  although  the  brain  was  inflamed  and  the  pulse 
at  a  rapid  stroke,  her  physical  strength  still  gave 
no  sign  of  that  fatal  downward  collapse  which, 
in  so  many  cases  of  fever,  is  the  prelude  of 
death. 

His  prophecy  proved  correct.  Leah's  recovery 
was  as  rapid  as  her  seizure  had  been.  "  Yesterday 
you  were  convalescent,"  her  mother  cheerfully 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  303 

said  to  her,  one  morning,  "and  to-day  you  are 
nearly  well." 

A  little  later  she  saw  Lawrence  Rainsford,  who 
had  known  every  least  detail  of  her  illness,  though 
Leah  herself  had  no  idea  of  his  solicitude.  Mrs. 
Romilly  insisted  that  the  interview  should  be  a 
brief  one,  and  at  its  end  Leah  surprised  her  by 
saying : 

"  Mamma,  why  did  Rainsford  start  when  he  first 
saw  me  to-day  ?  " 

"  Did  he  start,  Leah  ?  " 

"  Yes.    Am  I  changed  at  all  ?  " 

"  Oh,  not  much  my  dear." 

"  You  have  always  dressed  me.  You  have  never 
let  me  see  a  glass.  There  is  no  glass  in  this  room. 
There  used  to  be  one.  Why  has  it  been  taken 
away  ?  " 

Mrs.  Romilly  clasped  one  of  Leah's  hands  in 
both  her  own  and  pressed  it  softly  against  her  lips. 
Then  she  spoke  several  sentences  to  which  her 
daughter  listened  with  keenest  attention,  drawing 
a  long  sigh  at  their  end. 

"Very  well,  mamma,"  she  soon  said.  "  Let  me 
look  at  myself,  any  way.  Bring  me  a  hand-glass." 

The  hand-glass  was  brought,  and  Leah  looked 
into  its  tell-tale  depths.  She  saw  that  her  golden 
hair  was  very  deeply  streaked  with  gray.  She 


304  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

burst  into  a  flood  of  tears ;  the  glass  almost  fell 
from  her  hand. 

"  I  am  an  old  woman ! "  she  exclaimed.  "  Law 
rence  Rainsford  must  have  thought  so.  That  is 
why  he  started  when  he  saw  me.  .  .  ." 

In  a  fortnight  longer  she  was  able  to  leave  the 
house.  The  weather  was  now  verging  upon  early 
spring.  With  her  mother  she  would  take  walks  of 
slowly  increasing  length.  Thus  far  she  had  made 
no  reference  whatever  to  her  husband.  One  day, 
during  a  walk  of  this  sort,  she  questioned  her 
mother  concerning  him. 

"  I  hear  that  he  is  very  ill,  Leah,"  was  the 
answer. 

"Who  told  you?" 

"Rainsford.     He  has  heard." 

"  Do  you  mean  dangerously  ill?  " 

"  Yes.  And  from  dissipation.  But,  perhaps,  I 
am  wrong  to  say  that.  The  truth  is,  Lawrence 
knows  his  attending  physician  ;  they  chanced  to  be 
old  friends.  Dr.  Holcroft  says  that  his  patient  had 
passed  through  a  terrible  period  of  self-indulgence; 
he  had  disappeared  from  the  society  of  all  his  ac 
quaintances ;  for  a  long  time  no  one  could  find 
him.  But  at  last  he  was  discovered,  and  in  a  most 
wretched  state.  Dr.  Holcroft  was  summoned.  An 
attack  of  delirium  treinens  soon  afterward  ensued, 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  305 

from  which  the  unhappy  man  gradually  recovered. 
But  on  the  verge  of  recovery  a  malarial  fever  set 
in,  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  reduced  condition  of  his 
system.  No  fear  was  entertained  for  several  days. 
Then  the  fever  changed  to  one  of  typhoidal  nature, 
with  a  complication  of  pneumonia  besides.  In 
this  condition  he  still  lingers." 

A  long  silence  followed  Mrs.  Romilly's  an 
nouncement.  Leah  at  length  looked  at  her 
mother. 

"  I  am  his  wife,  after  all,"  she  said.  "  I  ought 
to  go  to  him." 

"  You,  Leah !  You,  who  are  yourself  just  re 
covering  from  a  severe  sickness ! " 

Again  Leah  was  silent.  Then  with  a  certain 
tender  timidity,  her  eyes  once  more  sought  those 
of  her  mother. 

"Oh,  mamma,"  she  murmured,  "you  are  so  fine, 
so  noble  !  He  insulted  you,  but  still,  after  all,  he 
is  my  husband !  .  .  .  And  you  have  always  found 
it  so  easy  to  forgive.  .  .  .  What  if  you  should  go 
to  his  bedside  now?  Do  I  ask  too  much  of  you 
when  I  ask  you  to  go  in  my  place  ?  " 

"  I  went  four  days  ago,  Leah,"  said  Mrs.  Rom- 
illy,  quietly.  "  I  went,  and  offered  my  services. 
A  domestic  came  and  told  me  that  they  were  not 
needed.  There  was  no  other  answer." 


306  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

Leah  felt  a  thrill  pass  through  her  as  she  listened 
to  these  simple  yet  significant  words.  She  saw  her 
mother's  beautiful  soul  in  a  new  light,  as  we  see  a 
sunbeam  strike  the  peak  of  a  sublime  mountain- 
top  in  a  new  way. 

"  You  are  a  saint ! "  she  exclaimed.  "  Nobody 
but  a  real  saint  could  have  acted  like  that ! " 

Mrs.  Roniilly  answered  with  one  of  her  peaceful 
smiles. 

The  next  day  the  tidings  came  that  Tracy  Tre- 
maine  was  dead. 


XV. 

T  EAH  felt  no  grief.  The  old  love  had  long 
-*-^  been  dead  in  her  heart.  Still,  this  miserable 
end  of  so  young  a  life,  once  treasured  past  all 
price,  could  not  but  shock  and  sadden  her.  She 
thought  how  wild  her  grief  would  have  been  if 
death  had  dealt  him  its  blow  in  those  happy  van 
ished  days.  Perhaps  this  reflection  increased  the 
melancholy  of  her  mood.  In  the  black  garb 
which  she  at  once  assumed,  with  her  golden,  gray- 
streaked  hair  and  her  face  which  now,  after  her 
sickness,  would  always  look  a  little  faded,  though 
still  most  interestingly  and  refinedly  beautiful,  she 
made  a  picture  that  only  a  very  careless  eye  could 
dwell  upon  without  afterward  remembering. 

"  I  will  do  just  as  you  tell  me,"  she  said  to  her 
mother.  "  It  seems  to  me  that  I  should  forget 
everything  now." 

"  Yes,  Leah,  that  is  right ;  but  you  must  not  go 
there  alone.  I  fear  to  have  you  do  so.  I  have 
heard  from  Rainsford  " — 

307 


SOS  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

"  What  have  you  heard  from  Rainsford  ?  "  she 
eagerly  broke  in. 

"  That  the  Tremaine  clan  has  massed  itself  to 
gether  in  displeased  congress ;  that  very  bitter 
things  are  said  of  you  and  very  compassionating 
things  of  your  dead  husband ;  that  your  claim  to 
inherit  as  his  widow  is  held  a  matter  for  legal  dis 
pute,  on  the  ground  of  deliberate  desertion.  I 
suppose  we  are  to  be  two  against  a  great  many. 
But  we  must  make  a  firm  stand.  We  must  not 
permit  this  overbearing  race  to  drive  us  to  the 
wall." 

Leah  went  to  where  her  mother  sat.  She  put 
both  hands  about  one  of  Mrs.  Romilly's,  and  held 
it  thus  while  she  spoke. 

"  You  shall  find  me  strong  and  resolute,  mamma. 
.  .  .  But  I  only  wish  that  he  had  given  some  sign 
of  regret  before  the  last.  That  would  have  taken 
from  what  we  are  about  to  do  the  atmosphere  of 
mere  worldly  policy  which  now  surrounds  it,  and 
have  touched  our  action  with  a  color  of  real  senti 
ment.  I  don't  mean  as  regards  the  opinion  or 
judgment  of  society ;  I  mean,  rather,  the  new  im 
pulse  which  would  be  born  of  pardon  and  pity  for 
the  dead.  We  should  both  feel  it,  mamma.  I  find 
that  it  is  hard  not  to  forgive  the  dead,  simply  be 
cause  they  have  passed  away,  whatever  were  their 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  309 

misdeeds.  But  if  they  have  wounded  or  wronged 
us  in  life,  and  yet  leave  some  souvenir  of  repent 
ance  to  reach  its  appeal  out  of  the  final  silence, 
why,  then  I  should  fancy  that  it  was  a  very  easy 
thing  to  let  oar  thought  of  them  grow  as  tender  as 
the  grass-blades  that  the  next  Spring  will  draw 
from  the  cold  earth  above  their  graves !  .  .  .  Oh, 
I  should  so  like  to  believe,  mamma,  that  Tracy 
Trernaine  does  not  side  with  his  people  now, 
wherever  and  whatever  he  may  be !  And  if  I 
only  had  some  proof  of  this  —  some  proof  besides 
those  remorseful  words  which  you  said  he  spoke 
on  that  wretched  evening  —  I  should  gain  twice 
the  courage  that  I  mean  presently  to  show,  and 
feel  myself  possessed  of  twice  the  reason  for  show 
ing  it." 

The  unshed  tears  stood  in  Mrs.  Romilly's  eyes 
as  she  looked  up  at  Leah  and  said : 

"  My  darling,  it  cannot  be  !  No  voice  can  come 
to  us  from  the  dead !  But  your  place  is  now  at 
your  husband's  side ;  they  must  not  push  you 
away;  they  must  not  be  let  to  push  you.  It  is 
something  that  we  need  not  argue  about;  it  is 
something  that  we  may  merely  understand  and 
accept.  As  for  his  justification  of  our  course,  I 
am  confident  that  amid  the  immortality  in  whose 
existence  I  have  never  through  all  my  life  lost 


310  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

faith,  lie  must  now  (spiritually  cleansed  of  faults 
that  have  cost  us  both  so  much  pain)  approve  and 
sanction  our  behavior !  " 

Only  an  hour  or  so  after  this  Leah  received  a  let 
ter  written  by  her  dead  husband.  It  seemed  like 
a  direct  answer  to  her  eager  yearning.  It  was 
dated  a  month  previous  to  his  death.  Tremaine 
had  never  been  a  scribe ;  the  style  of  the  whole 
communication  was  weak  enough,  and  some  of  its 
sentences  not  only  lacked  grace  but  coherence  as 
well.  And  yet  the  spirit  of  the  document  breathed 
a  sincere  contrition.  Its  writer  appeared  to  antici 
pate  his  approaching  end.  He  expressed  himself 
unworthy  of  ever  again  receiving  his  wife's  notice ; 
still,  he  had  yielded  to  a  mood  of  intense  remorse, 
and  had  determined  that  she  should  one  day  learn 
of  the  bitter  self-contempt  from  which  he  suffered. 
That  day  would  doubtless  be  when  he  was  no 
more.  He  had  no  hope  of  her  pardon,  and  there 
fore  he  would  arrange  that  she  should  not  read 
these  lines  until  after  he  was  dead. 

Such  a  letter  was  precisely  what  Leah  had  wished. 

"  It  arms  us  both,"  she  said  to  her  mother,  just 
before  they  started  for  the  house  in  which  Tre 
maine  lay.  "  The  dead  man  is  on  our  side ;  we 
know  it  now.  Let  this  haughty  family  deny  our 
claim  ;  he  authorizes  it." 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  311 

Leah  passed  the  threshold  of  her  residence  with 
a  steady  step  and  a  collected  mien.  She  inquired 
of  the  servant  who  admitted  herself  and  her 
mother  where  Mr.  Tremaine's  body  had  been 
placed.  On  hearing  the  desired  tidings  she  went 
quietly  upstairs  to  the  room  indicated,  followed  by 
her  faithful  and  devoted  mother. 

The  room  was  empty  when  they  entered  it. 
They  looked  together  at  the  face  of  the  dead ;  it 
was  fearfully  altered.  Scarcely  a  vestige  of  its 
old  beauty  remained.  Excess  and  disease  had 
wrought  miserable  wreck  upon  it.  A  little  later 
Mrs.  Tremaine  entered  the  room,  accompanied  by 
two  ladies,  both  her  near  kinswomen. 

All  three  of  the  new-comers  directed  looks  of 
mournful  horror  upon  Leah  and  her  mother.  One 
was  a  Mrs.  Amsterdam,  who  had  been  a  Miss  Tre 
maine  ;  she  was  the  sister  of  the  dead  man's  mother; 
she  was  stouter  than  Mrs.  Tremaine,  but  had  the 
same  light-tinted  eyes  and  arching  nose.  The 
other  was  a  Mrs.  Van  Corlear,  who  had  also  been 
a  Miss  Tremaine,  though  her  relationship  was  more 
distant.  She  had  a  handsome,  swarthy,  black-eyed 
face,  and  a  very  queenly  carriage ;  she  was  a 
great  leader  in  society,  and  noted  for  her  strong 
patrician  tendencies.  Both  Mrs.  Amsterdam  and 
Mrs.  Van  Corlear  had  met  and  known  Leah ;  they 


312  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

had,  indeed,  been  present  at  her  wedding,  and  ex 
tended  their  full,  gracious  recognition  of  the  alli 
ance. 

But  they  both  regarded  her  now  as  though  she 
were  some  impertinent  intruder.  Leah  quickly 
saw  their  plain  and  positive  hostility.  She  began 
coolly  to  untie  her  bonnet-strings.  At  the  same 
time,  in  a  low  voice,  she  said  to  her  mother  : 

"  I  want  you  to  remain  here  with  me  to-night, 
mamma.  You  will,  will  you  not  ?  " 

"  Certainly,  Leah." 

The  three  ladies  exchanged  shocked  looks. 
Then  Mrs.  Van  Corlear  spoke,  addressing  Leah : 

"  You  cannot  possibly  mean  what  you  have  just 
said." 

"Why  should  I  not  mean  it?"  Leah  asked 
calmly. 

"  Oh,  do  not  attempt  to  argue  with  her  here," 
murmured  Mrs.  Tremaine,  in  a  sort  of  frozen 
whisper,  to  Mrs.  Van  Corlear.  "  They  —  they 
would  not  scruple,  you  know,  Katharine,  to  speak 
loudly,  to  —  to  say  dreadful  things.  .  .  .  And  we 
—  we  are  quite  in  their  power;  we  must  submit, 
you  know." 

"  True,"  said  Mrs.  Amsterdam,  very  faintly,  with 
the  edges  of  her  lips.  "  Anything  would  be  better 
than  the  least  disturbance." 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  313 

Leah  gave  her  mother  a  despairing  glance.  Im 
mediately  afterward  Mrs.  Romilly  said,  with  her 
sweet  voice  so  modulated  that  it  seemed  a  portion 
of  the  hush  which  filled  this  chamber  of  death : 

"  Ladies,  there  is  nothing  that  could  induce 
either  my  daughter  or  myself  to  cause  a  shadow  of 
disturbance.  Pray  be  certain  of  that.  Leah  to 
day  received  a  letter  written  by  the  dead.  In  that 
letter  Tracy  Tremaine  implores  her  forgiveness. 
I  am  sure  that  she  had  already  forgiven  him, 
and"- 

"  Forgiven  him!"  broke  forth  Mrs.  Tremaine, 
bursting  into  tears.  "  Oh,  Katharine,  Susan,  did 
I  not  tell  you  they  had  come  here  to  insult  us? 
.  .  .  What  shall  we  do  ?  It  is  so  hard  to  act  in  a 
case  of  this  terrible  sort !  " 

The  next  moment  Mrs.  Tremaine  was  clasped 
in  the  arms  of  her  sister,  who  endeavored  to 
soothe  the  trembling  lady  with  certain  very  low 
words. 

But  Mrs.  Van  Corlear  had  meanwhile  fixed  her 
fine  black  eyes  upon  Leah. 

"Do  you  really  intend  to  remain  in  this  house?" 
she  asked,  with  chilling  superciliousness. 

"It  is  my  house,"  Leah  answered. 

"  You  left  it.     You  deserted  Mm." 

"  Ah,"  said  Leah,  very  placidly,  and  with  a  sad 


314  TINKLING  CYMBALS. 

smile,  "you  must  not  presume  to  address  such 
words  to  me.  If  so,  I  shall  have  but  one  course 
left." 

"  What  course  ?  " 

"I  shall  insist  upon  your  immediate  departure." 

Mrs.  Van  Corlear's  large  frame  visibly  quivered. 
She  was  a  sort  of  social  despot,  in  her  way;  it 
seemed  to  her  that  this  was  the  very  acme  of 
daring  insolence. 

"  You  have  no  right  to  be  here  —  none  what 
ever,"  she  said.  "You  are  a  faithless  and  cul 
pable  wife.  Your  conduct  has  horrified  us  all. 
We  come  of  a  family  that  support  each  other. 
We  will  not  have  one  of  our  race  injured  and 
insulted  without  resenting  it.  We  have  all  gath 
ered  about  poor  Tracy  now,  and  you  cannot  drive 
us  away.  We  are  of  the  same  blood  with  him ; 
we  are  Tremaines.  Of  course  you  do  not  under 
stand  what  it  is  to  be  a  Tremaine.  We  showed 
you  the  greatest  tolerance  and  forbearance  until 
you  proved  that  to  us.  We  acknowledged  you. 
No  Tremaine  had  ever  married  like  this  before ; 
but  we  acknowledged  you.  In  place  of  gratitude 
you  have  exhibited  the  worst  sort  of  thankless- 
ness.  You  cannot  assert  any  wifely  dignity  now ; 
it  is  too  late.  You  cannot  drive  us  away ;  we  will 
not  go." 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  315 

"Not  a  word,  Leah,"  said  Mrs.  Roinilly.  She 
saw  her  daughter's  face  pale  and  twitch ;  she  put 
an  arm  about  Leah's  waist,  and  a  hand  within  hers 
as  well.  "  Remember  where  we  are,"  she  went  on. 
"Say  nothing.  Bear  this,  and  more,  in  silence. 
Silence  is  far  best." 

"  You  are  right,  mamma,"  Leah  said.  "  Let  us 
go  into  another  room.  We  remain  here  to-night — 
both  of  us."  She  loudened  her  voice  a  little  as 
she  continued :  "  And  to-morrow,  at  the  funeral, 
I  shall  know  where  my  place  is,  and  keep  it. 
Come." 

They  left  the  room  together.  They  remained 
in  the  house  that  night.  They  saw  no  one  until 
the  following  day,  except  two  of  the  servants. 
But  a  great  family-conclave  had  assembled.  Steps 
passed  their  closed  door,  and  low  voices  were 
heard  in  halls  and  in  neighboring  apartments  until 
quite  a  late  hour.  Then,  at  last,  all  was  still. 
Neither  Leah  nor  her  mother  got  much  sleep  that 
night. 

"  Oh,  what  would  I  have  done  without  you  ?  " 
Leah  said,  while  her  arms  clasped  her  mother's 
neck.  "How  could  I  have  gone  through  it  all? 
You  are  my  staff.  If  I  had  not  you  to  lean  upon, 
the  arrogance  of  this  strange,  implacable  family 
would  have  overwhelmed  me.  I  should  have 


316  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

sunk  down ;  I  should  have  had  no  nerve,  no 
spirit  to  bear  up  against  them.  Trouble  and 
sickness  have  tamed  me  so,  mamma,  darling!  I 
am  so  changed  from  that  wilful  Leah  of  other 
days ! " 

"  Changed !  yes !  "  said  Mrs.  Romilly,  kissing 
her ;  "  but  changed  for  the  better,  my  child.  I 
think  that  I  love  you  even  more  now  than  I  did 
then ! " 

"No  —  no,"  said  Leah.  "You  have  always 
loved  me  the  same  !  Yours  was  the  perfection  of 
a  mother's  love  —  from  the  very  first !  All  the 
fault,  all  the  shortcoming,  all  the  error,  lay  in 
myself!" 

The  funeral  took  place  at  ten  o'clock  the  next 
morning.  Leah  and  her  mother  went  below  stairs 
at  half-past  nine.  The  drawing-room  was  filled 
with  her  husband's  kindred;  they  had  mustered 
in  full  force.  Leah  clung  to  her  mother's  arm. 
Together  they  moved  toward  the  coffin.  Leah's 
face  was  draped  with  a  heavy  widow's  veil.  Mrs. 
Romilly  guided  her  daughter  to  the  head  of  the 
coffin.  Mrs.  Tremaine  sat  there,  surrounded  by 
several  dark-robed  ladies.  The  husband  of  Mrs. 
Van  Corlear,  a  tall  man,  with  bushy  gray  whiskers 
and  gold  eye-glasses  crowning  an  austere  nose, 
stood  solemnly  at  the  side  of  Mrs.  Tremaine. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  317 

No  chair  was  near  at  hand,  and  this  gentleman 
offered  none. 

Mrs.  Romilly  looked  at  him  with  a  stately  mild 
ness. 

"  A  chair  for  my  daughter,  please,"  she  said. 

Her  words  were  hardly  above  a  whisper,  but 
they  carried  command. 

Mr.  Van  Corlear,  with  an  august  gravity,  went 
and  got  two  chairs.  He  placed  them  at  the  foot 
of  the  coffin.  Mrs.  Romilly  bowed  her  thanks, 
and  then,  with  her  own  hands,  moved  both  chairs 
to  within  a  few  inches  of  where  Mrs.  Tremaine 
sat.  A  flutter  passed  through  the  little  sombre- 
clad  group.  A  shivering  sob  was  heard  from 
Tremaine's  mother,  as  she  buried  her  face  in  her 
black-bordered  handkerchief.  Mrs.  Romilly  pointed 
to  one  of  the  vacant  chairs.  Leah  sank  into  it. 
She  then  seated  herself  at  Leah's  side. 

The  funeral  was  to  occur  at  a  church  in  the 
lower  portion  of  Second  Avenue,  whose  contigu 
ous  graveyard  had  long  held  the  Tremaine  family- 
vault.  Carriages  were  in  waiting  outside.  When 
the  coffin  had  been  borne  to  the  hearse,  and  the 
relatives  rose  to  follow  it,  Leah  slipped  her  hand 
within  her  mother's  arm,  and  so  passed  out 
through  the  hall  and  down  the  stoop.  Mr.  Van 
Corlear  had  given  his  arm  to  Mrs.  Tremaine. 


318  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

They  were  directly  in  front  of  Mrs.  Romilly  and 
Leah ;  the  former,  with  watchful  promptitude,  had 
contrived  to  make  this  intervening  distance  as 
slight  as  possible.  But  when  all  four  had  reached 
the  sidewalk,  and  Mr.  Van  Corlear,  having  opened 
the  door  of  the  first  carriage,  was  about  to  assist 
his  companion  inside  of  it,  Mrs.  Romilly,  with 
Leah's  hand  close-pressed  round  her  arm,  glided 
in  front  of  them. 

"  My  daughter  will  take  this  carriage,"  she  said, 
very  softly. 

The  gentleman's  grasp  was  upon  the  door-knob 
of  the  vehicle.  For  just  an  appreciable  instant  he 
opposed  what  Mrs.  Romilly  sought  to  do.  Then 
their  eyes  met.  His  were  full  of  gloom,  bewilder 
ment,  and  even  decorous  indignation  as  well. 
Hers  were  clear,  peaceful,  determined. 

"  His  mother ! "  broke  from  Mr.  Van  Corlear, 
as  if  those  two  words,  however  faintly  uttered, 
could  exert  a  paralyzing  force. 

"  His  wife !  "  said  Mrs.  Romilly,  indicating  Leah 
with  a  decisive  yet  thoroughly  courteous  motion 
of  the  head.  And  then  she  composedly  pushed 
her  child  toward  the  open  doorway  of  the  carriage. 
A  loud,  distracted  sigh  sounded  from  behind  Mrs. 
Tremaine's  heavy  veil.  But  the  dark  little  drama 
had  ended.  Mrs.  Romilly  had  gained  her  point, 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  319 

and  at  least  twenty  eyes  had  seen  her  gain  it. 
She  closed  the  carriage  door  with  her  own  hand 
after  they  were  both  seated.  Then  she  pulled 
down  the  curtain  at  either  window,  and  kissed 
Leah,  who  had  begun  to  tremble. 

"There,  my  child,"  she  said,  "I  think  it  is  all 
over  now.  They  will  give  you  your  fitting  place, 
after  this.  They  see  that  I  will  not  let  them  take 
it  from  you.  You  shall  be  nearest  him  at  the 
church,  nearest  him  at  the  grave.  .  .  .  But  I  am 
almost  sure  that  there  will  be  no  further  trouble." 

She  was  right.  They  had  seen  the  last  of  this 
dreadful,  untimely  antagonism.  Whatever  form, 
in  the  future,  the  offended  pride  of  the  Tremaines 
meant  to  take,  it  had  resolved  upon  at  least  a 
present  course  of  concession  and  surrender. 


XVI. 

"OUT  Leah,  in  the  months  of  seclusion  that 
^  followed  her  husband's  death,  gradually 
found  that  no  further  torments  of  hostility  were 
to  be  inflicted  upon  her.  She  received  the  full 
amount  of  her  inheritance,  paid  over  in  polite 
solemnity  by  Tremaine's  executors,  who  had  both 
been  near  of  kin  to  him.  But  the  whole  family 
dropped  her  acquaintance  forever.  This  was  their 
majestic  revenge  for  having  presumed  to  let  one 
of  their  race  stain  his  own  name  by  wronging  her. 
If  she  had  been  notably  to  blame  —  if  they  could 
have  surrounded  the  decease  of  their  kinsman 
with  any  romantic  perfume  of  melancholy  martyr 
dom  —  if  they  could  have  persuaded  themselves 
that  he  had  not  injured  the  sanctity  of  that  pre 
cious  affair  which  they  called  "  his  position,"  and 
that  Leah  had  not  come  forth  from  the  unhappy 
episode  with  a  provoking  accompaniment  of  inno 
cence  and  misfortune,  they  might  have  extended 
to  her  no  small  amount  of  lenient  indulgence. 
But  that  certain  real  and  disgraceful  facts  had 
320 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  321 

transpired,  and  that  both  sympathy  and  pity  had 
been  given  the  young  widow  to  the  detriment  of 
her  dead  husband's  past  repute  as  a  gentleman, 
these  high-strung  relations  found  flagrantly  of 
fensive. 

Malicious  reports  reached  Leah,  but  she  hardly 
heeded  them.  She  had  grown  quite  careless  of 
the  world  whence  they  sprung.  She  now  reoccu- 
pied  with  her  mother  their  former  residence. 
When  her  term  of  conventional  mourning  had 
ceased,  she  took  pleasure  in  entertainments  of  a 
purely  social  and  yet  moderate-toned  description ; 
gatherings  at  which  there  would  be  some  one, 
perhaps,  who  could  produce  charming  music,  or 
some  one  who  could  read  with  skill  and  feeling 
from  the  poets,  or  some  one  famed  for  rare  gifts  of 
conversation.  She  would  sometimes  reflect  on 
the  milder  yet  richer  enjoyment  which  evenings 
like  these  afforded,  and  contrast  it  with  the  fever 
ish  rush,  the  garish  glitter,  the  excited  whirl  of 
other  hours. 

"  What  a  vain  pomp  that  all  was ! "  she  more 
than  once  said  to  her  mother.  "And  to  think 
that  it  all  goes  on  just  the  same  !  —  that  the  cym 
bals  are  still  tinkling,  and  the  vanities  still  flaunt 
ing  themselves  with  the  same  old  peacock  strut ! " 

"  And  yet  you  are  not  socially  satisfied,  Leah," 


322  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

her  mother  once  said,  with  a  look  at  Rainsford, 
who  now  often  dropped  in  during  an  evening. 
"We  have  both  noticed  it;  have  we  not,  Law 
rence  ?  " 

"  I  am  afraid  that  we  have,"  agreed  Rainsford, 
with  a  latent  touch  of  humor  stirring  his  native 
gravity. 

Leah  gave  a  soft  laugh.  All  her  tones  and 
movements  were  softened,  nowadays.  Her  dark 
robes  suited  this  change;  they  brought  out  the 
poetry  in  her  thinned,  faded  face,  with  the  gray- 
streaked  hair  above  its  pathetic  delicacy  of  out 
line.  She  still  had  beauty,  and  of  a  most  uniquely 
interesting  sort ;  only,  she  did  not  dream  that  the 
least  remnant  of  it  had  been  left ;  she  would  look 
into  the  glass  and  openly  call  herself  an  old 
woman.  Perhaps  it  was  because  of  this  complete 
unconsciousness  with  respect  to  a  single  personal 
charm,  this  entire  absence  of  the  remotest  co 
quetry,  this  pretty  and  yet  thoroughly  sincere 
demureness,  that  now  invested  her  with  a  novel 
and  original  fascination. 

"  Have  }'ou  both  found  me  out  in  my  culpable 
discontent?"  she  asked.  "Well,  I  will  make  you 
both  a  confession ;  I  have  picked  and  chosen  the 
members  of  my  little  salon  with  great  care; 
I  have  gone  very  devoutly  and  diligently  to 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  323 

work.  But  I  feel  that  it  is  quite  a  failure,  after 
all." 

"  And  why  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Romilly,  though  she 
suspected  what  answer  would  come. 

"Why?"  echoed  Leah.  "My  people  are  so 
few  of  them  enough  in  earnest.  There  is  the 
main  trouble.  My  first  danger  was  in  founding 
an  asylum  for  disappointed  fashionables.  But 
that  danger  I  foresaw  and  avoided  in  time.  There 
is  nothing  so  abhorrent  to  me  as  the  woman  (yes, 
she  is  usually  a  woman)  who,  because  she  has  not 
the  proper  amount  of  money  or  beauty  or  caste  to 
shine  beside  such  bright  butterflies  as  Mrs.  Chi- 
chester,  would  cultivate  what  she  calls  4an  intel 
lectual  taste.'  She  must  nurture  that  dainty  sort 
of  hypocrisy  in  some  other  drawing-room  than 
mine.  I  could  instance  several  distinct  cases 
where  I  have  found  her  in  several  distinct  shapes, 
and  headed  off  her  intentions  with  adroit  strategy. 
Then  my  second  danger  was  in  falling  upon  the 
mere  scholars.  If  there  is  anything  at  once  both 
delightful  and  dreary  it  is  scholarship.  I  have 
not  the  least  objection  to  all  of  my  guests  acquir 
ing  Sanskrit;  but  they  must  riot  be  professional 
with  it ;  they  must  not  simply  know  books,  they 
must  have  a  feeling  for  them.  Learning  un 
leavened  by  imagination  produces  the  pedagogue ; 


324  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

and  the  place  for  the  pedagogue  is  not  the  parlor, 
it  is  the  schoolroom."  Here  Leah  paused,  laugh 
ing.  "  Do  I  bore  j~ou  ? "  she  asked,  looking  at 
both  Rainsford  and  her  mother  equally.  "Do 
you  find  my  confession  tiresome,  or  do  you  want 
to  hear  what  was  my  third  danger  ?  " 

"By  all  means  we  want  to  hear,"  said  Rains- 
ford.  "  In  giving  us  the  details  of  your  struggle 
you  can  make  us  perceive  more  clearly  your  unat- 
tained  ideal." 

She  laughed  again  at  his  sober  satire ;  the  notes 
of  her  laughter  were  still  young  and  sweet.  "  My 
third  danger,"  she  re-commenced,  "was  the  Bohe 
mians.  .  .  .  Oh,  you  need  neither  of  you  look 
incredulous  !  Of  course,  I  don't  mean  the  gentle 
men  with  soiled  collars  and  shiny  coat-sleeves,  nor 
the  ladies  with  drooping  ringlets  and  skirts  that 
barely  touch  the  floor.  There  are  plenty  of  Bohe 
mians  who  respect  their  milliners  and  tailors,  I 
find.  But  they  are  Bohemians,  all  the  same ;  they 
think  with  an  incessant  laxity;  they  never  read 
anything,  but  always  skim  it ;  they  regard  science 
as  a  fairy-tale,  philosophy  as  a  fantasy,  literature 
as  a  trifle ;  they  are  strikingly  clever,  and  nothing 
more ;  everything  about  them  is  filigree  and  em 
bellishment,  and  they  possess  so  much  that  it's  a 
mystery  how  they  can  thus  attach  it  to  nullity. 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  325 

They  always  pass  for  persons  of  great  mental 
culture,  but  they  are  really  the  most  hollow  of 
shams.  Their  minds  are  stocked  with  the  names 
and  the  substance  of  many  things,  but  they  have 
reached  the  spirit  of  nothing.  .  .  .  Well,  these 
(and  perhaps  a  few  others  whom  I  will  not  men 
tion)  were  the  dangers  I  wished  to  shun.  But 
now  I  discover  that  my  little  sifted  and  sorted 
community  doesn't  satisfy  me,  after  all.  There  is 
such  a  small  amount  of  genuine  talent  about  it. 
I  want  to  secure  people  who  will  not  be  mere 
lookers-on  in  my  Vienna;  I  want  them  to  be 
more  individual  and  operative,  less  unassertive 
and  sympathizing." 

"  Such  assemblages  are  not  possible  in  this  new 
land  of  ours,"  said  Rainsford,  very  seriously. 
"  We  need  at  least  a  century  to  make  them  so  — 
if  we  live  a  century  longer  as  the  republic  we 
have  aimed  to  be.  Brilliant  men  and  women  will 
meanwhile  rise  among  us;  not  a  few  such  have 
already  risen.  But  a  wide  diffusion  of  just  that 
special  humanity  to  which  you  refer  is  yet  a 
future  gain.  Our  universities  must  throw  a 
broader  academic  shadow;  then,  like  the  sturdy 
ivy  of  other  climates,  that  kind  of  growth  will 
thrive  there.  .  .  ." 

But  if  Leah  was  truly  disappointed  by  what  she 


326  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

chose  to  term  her  failure,  the  pleasant  buoyancy 
of  her  spirits  gave  slight  evidence  of  this  fact. 
She  had  been  more  than  three  years  a  widow  when 
her  mother  said  to  her,  one  day : 

"Leah,  if  I  should  die  how  lonely  you  would 
be ! " 

"Mamma!"  she  cried,  "how  can  you  speak  like 
that ! " 

Mrs.  Romilly  gave  a  very  cheerful  smile.  "  Oh, 
I  can't  live  forever,  darling ;  and  there  is  a  good 
difference  between  our  ages." 

Leah  was  close  at  her  mother's  side  now.  She 
was  looking  very  intently  into  the  sweet  hazel 
eyes  that  she  knew  so  well. 

"Tell  me,"  she  murmured,  with  great  earnest 
ness,  "have  you  fancied  anything,  mamma?  Have 
you  had  any  premonition  of  illness  ?  —  any.  .  .  ." 

"  My  dear,"  broke  in  Mrs.  Romilly,  very  fondly 
stroking  the  Jroung  widow's  gray-gold  hair,  "I 
never  was  better  in  my  life." 

Leah  watched  her  wonderingly.  "Then  why 
did  you  try  to  frighten  me?" 

"  Not  at  all,  darling.  I  did  not  try.  Is  it  like 
me  to  try?" 

"No,  said  Leah,  kissing  her  a  little  dubiously. 

"I  only  meant,"  Mrs.  Romilly  continued,  "that 
you  would  be  quite  alone  if  I  had  to  go.  And  of 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  327 

course  the  chances  of  your  outliving  me  by  a  good 
many  years,  child,  are  very  strong." 

"  Oh,  but  I  don't  want  to  think  of  them." 

"  Is  it  not  best  to  think  of  them  ?  " 

Leah  gave  a  sudden  start.  "What  do  you 
mean?"  she  questioned,  in  quite  an  altered 
voice. 

"Suppose  you  married,  my  love?"  said  her 
mother,  with  great  tenderness.  "  Very  happily,  I 
mean,  this  time."  She  laid  strong  accent  upon 
the  last  two  low-spoken  words. 

Leah  broke  into  a  nervous  laugh.  "Married?" 
she  exclaimed,  incredulously.  "I?  At  my  age?" 
Then  she  laughed  again.  "  Oh,  no,  of  course  I 
am  not  old  —  that  is,  not  in  years.  But  look  at 
my  hair  —  it's  grayer  than  yours!"  Here  her  face 
took  a  comic  sadness.  "I  can't  dream  what  has 
put  this  idea  into  your  wise,  cool  head.  Because 
you  are  in  love  with  me  you  must  n't  think  anyone 
else  is.  Why,  who  would  ask  me  to  marry  him?" 

"I  know  one  who  would,  Leah." 

She  watched  her  mother  with  a  trembling  lip 
for  several  seconds,  after  this.  Her  face  had 
grown  quite  pale. 

"Yes!"  she  exclaimed,  with  a  mournful  bitter 
ness.  "I  understand!  He  might  ask  it  if  he 

O 

thought  you  wanted  it.     He  might  ask  it  out  of 


328  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

pity  !  Hush,  mamma,  ...  he  is  a  great  painter, 
now;  he  is  still  young;  men  grow  old  so  much 
more  slowly  than  women.  It  is  dreadful  for  me 
even  to  fancy  his  making  such  a  sacrifice,  when 
he  might.  .  .  .  Oh,  no ;  let  us  never  speak  of  this 
again !  Never,  now !  Promise  me." 

"But,  Leah,"  came  the  gently  persistent  words, 
"if  it  were  not  a  sacrifice  ?  If — " 

"But  it  is!  I  know  better  than  you!  Promise 
me  that  this  shall  be  the  last  of  the  subject 
between  us ! " 

"I  promise,  then,"  said  Mrs.  Romilly. 

That  same  evening  Rainsford  came  to  the 
house.  Leah  sat  in  the  drawing-room  alone,  let 
ting  her  fingers  wander  listlessly  over  the  keys  of 
the  piano.  She  had  not  heard  the  outer  bell  ring. 
But  it  had  last  rung  some  time  ago.  Mrs.  Romilly 
had  contrived  to  meet  Rainsford  in  the  hall,  and 
to  hold  a  conversation  of  some  length  with  him  in 
an  adjacent  room.  He  was  forced  to  louden  his 
step  a  little  as  he  now  approached  the  piano. 
Then  she  turned  and  saw  him. 

"  Pray  do  n't  rise,"  he  said.  "  I  will  sit  just 
there,  at  your  side.  You  can  go  on  playing,  if 
you  wish.  You  know  how  I  like  Schumann." 

Leah  played  on  for  a  little  while. 

"But  it  is  so  absurb,"  she  presently  said,  paus- 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  329 

ing.  "I  have  no  touch  —  no  style  —  no  expres 
sion.  There  is  so  much  music  in  me,  and  yet  I 
never  could  bring  it  out,  somehow." 

"You  play  much  better  than  you  did,"  he  said, 
with  a  critical  directness  which  might  have  struck 
her  as  brusque  in  anyone  else.  But  she  had  long 
ago  grown  used  to  his  grave  candor. 

"Do  you  really  think  that?"  she  asked,  inter 
estedly. 

"I  am  sure  of  it." 

"How  long  is  it  since  you  have  noticed  the 
change?" 

"Oh,  along  time." 

"A  long  time?"  she  repeated,  in  surprise.  "Do 
you  mean  a  year  ago?" 

A  very  rich  smile  filled  his  rugged,  thoughtful 
face.  "No,"  he  answered;  "longer  than  a  year 
ago.  Three  years.  .  .  .  Since  the  time  when  you 
began  to  see  everything  so  differently — to  be  the 
high-minded,  large-souled  woman  that  you  are 
now." 

Her  head  had  slightly  drooped.  But  she  gave  a 
faint  laugh.  "When  I  began  to  get  old,"  she  said. 

"You  have  never  been  old." 

She  stole  a  sad  glance  at  him.  "Don't  tell  me 
that  gray  hair  is  n't  an  accompaniment  of  age,"  she 
said,  "  or  I  shall  accuse  you  of  paying  me  a  wan- 


330  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

ton  compliment.  And  how  funny  that  would  be 
from  you ! " 

"I  can't  help  what  you  think  of  it.  The  change 
has  only  made  you  more  beautiful  in  my  eyes.  It 
tells  me  of  the  other  change." 

She  looked  at  him  wistfully,  eagerly,  then,  while 
he  bent  nearer  toward  her.  Her  voice  had  a 
tremor  as  she  said :  "  Ah !  you  mean  that  it 
makes  you  sorry  for  me !" 

"  Sorry  ?  It  tells  me  that  you  have  suffered, 
surely." 

The  tears  glistened  in  her  gaze,  but  they  did 
not  fall. 

"I  — I  don't  want  to  be  pitied,"  she  said,  with  a 
pathetic,  faltering  wilfulness,  that  was  like  a  dreamy 
memory  of  other  long-past  rebellious  days.  "It 
makes  me  pity  myself  more.  And  it  is  not  well 
to  do  that.  It  turns  one's  heart  away  from  all  the 
many  sorrows  in  the  world  which  one  can  help." 

"  That  you  do  help  so  often  !  That  you  conse 
crate  your  life  to  helping  !  " 

She  had  drooped  her  head  again ;  both  her 
hands  lay  folded  in  her  lap. 

"I  was  very  wayward  and  selfish  once,"  she 
said.  "I  have  a  great  deal  to  make  up  for." 

"  So  you  think,  now,  of  the  sorrows  of  others 
for  this  reason  ?  " 


TINKLING   CYMBALS.  331 

"  I  try  to  think  of  them." 

"I  wonder  if  you  have  thought  much  of  one 
special  sorrow." 

"  Whose  ?  "  she  said,  still  not  raising  her  look. 

"  Mine,"  he  responded. 

"  Yours  ?  " 

"Yes,  mine.  The  sorrow  that  you  gave  me 
.  .  .  well,  not  so  very  long  ago.  It  has  never  died. 
I  think  it  has  even  gained  in  strength  since  it  was 
first  dealt  me.  To  see  you  grow  more  lovely, 
more  womanly,  more  worthy  of  a  man's  complete 
devotion,  has  made  it  heavier  and  keener." 

She  looked  up  at  him  then.  Her  eyes  were 
burning  through  their  mists  of  tears. 

"  I  thought  all  that  was  past ! "  she  said. 

"  No,"  he  answered ;  "  it  can  never  pass  except 
in  one  of  two  ways.  Death  must  end  my  pain, 
Leah,  or  love  —  your  love  — must  end  it !  If  you 
cannot  give  me  your  love,  tell  me  so  to-night. 
Then  I  will  wait  —  as  bravely  and  as  patiently 
as  I  can  —  for  the  other  colder  cure." 

She  slowly  rose,  looking  almost  saintly  in  her 
sweetness;  then,  standing  beside  him,  with  her 
dark  robes  and  her  pale,  pure  face,  she  reached 
out  for  one  of  his  hands  while  he  still  remained 
seated..  She  took  it  between  both  her  own,  and 
slowly  raised  it  to  her  lips.  As  she  did  so  he 


332  TINKLING   CYMBALS. 

knew  that  her  tears  were  falling  upon  it.  But 
her  voice  was  now  quite  clear,  though  very  soft, 
as  she  murmured : 

"  You  need  not  wait  for  death.  I  give  you 
love  instead.  ...  I  give  you  a  love  that  will 
last,  I  think,  even  beyond  death  I " 


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